I have come to the conclusion over the past few years that the Queen has always been a selfish, narcissistic, tone-deaf a–hole. We’ve been told so many times that the Queen’s life and reign has revolved around duty. It does, sort of. But mostly the reign of Liz of the House Petty will be remembered for the wheels coming off of the monarchy because everything had to revolve around the wants and needs (however petty) of an aging monarch in severe decline. She would rather see her sons and grandsons married off to women who fade into the background and uphold the status quo rather than someone who has new ideas and does actual work. And now one royal biographer suggests that Prince Charles understood quickly that the Duchess of Sussex would be a “problem” for the monarchy because… something something Meghan was too popular?
Prince Charles feared there could be “problems” with the Duchess of Sussex joining the royal family, a royal author has claimed. Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew, Epstein and the Palace, said that although Charles admired Meghan, the Prince of Wales feared that “there’s only room for one strong royal woman – the Queen.”
Speaking to Fabulous, the royal author said: “I think he [Prince Charles] likes strong women, but in The Firm there is only room for one Queen. I think he foresaw considerable problems ahead for The Firm.Harry and Meghan amplified the popularity of the royal family in the way that Prince Andrew and Fergie did at the time. However, for the sake of The Firm he will feel this outcome is better that the monarchy is small in size rather than a constellation of stars in separate orbits.”
Nigel added that Prince Charles “genuinely made an attempt to support what Harry and Meghan were looking for as long as it wouldn’t upset other HRH’s. In truth, however, there wasn’t a lot he could do apart from offering moral support. He no doubt personally regrets the fact that he won’t see his son and family as much as he otherwise would have. He likes tradition and order.”
First of all, there’s a desperation to these biographers trying so hard to link Harry to Andrew. It’s tired – Harry and Meghan were used by the royals to deflect from Andrew’s crimes for too long, and these biographers need to stop making “comparisons.” Second thing – I actually don’t doubt that Charles had a deep understanding that Meghan would “rock the boat,” and that his mother would be “jealous.” Even more than that, Charles knew that the Buckingham Palace courtiers wouldn’t be able to help themselves by ripping Meghan to shreds. That’s what the courtiers were used to – the Queen has always been petty, so the entire monarchy has spent decades ripping apart every woman who is seen “competing” with the Queen for attention. All that got them was a bunch of dull duchesses and countesses. Because that’s all the Queen can handle.
But I’m not trying to give Charles a pass – there was a lot he could have done differently and he chose not to back up his son and daughter-in-law. He knew how good Harry and Meghan could be long-term for the monarchy and he still chose to side with William. Because Charles is likely just as petty as his mother, let’s be real. There was part of him which didn’t want to be “overshadowed” by a glamorous daughter-in-law too.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and Avalon Red.
The author “thinks” these things, per the excerpt. There is no proof that Prince Charles actually does. I’m waiting for the Scobie book.
The entire Firm is so petrified of the forthcoming book that they’ll fling any crap in the hope that it sticks (which, of course, it will with the Daily Heilites – but they have the collective IQ of a blocked nostril, so – ). This latest attempt to link RapeyAndy and the Sussexes is beyond pathetic, though. Talk about your false equivalence:
Assaults and terrorises girls/young women, and lies about it
Vs
Opens her own car door and wears Rouge Noir nail polish
Collective IQ of a blocked nostril? Now, that is creative. 😁👏👏👏
I agree.
And HA to your comparison.
Charles can be clueless but I doubt he’d put himself up to charges of hypocrisy. He did not have the most tidy marital history.
I wonder if all of this theorizing isn’t everyone in the palaces and the press desperately trying to find a reason for M & H’s departure that *isn’t* racism.
I think that’s exactly what it is. And the problem with that is – none of these other reasons make the royal family look good either. This story makes the queen look petty and insecure.
Hence why the Queen hasn’t addressed Black Lives Matter. Her granddaughter-in-law’s and great-grandson’s lives didn’t matter enough for her to protect them from the racist bs coming from the press and other members of that family. She was too busy defending her pedophile son.
Charles is still recovering from Diana overshadowing him. He couldn’t go through that again.
This. If anything, Meghan and Harry’s popularity felt like Diana’s—not Andrew and Fergie’s, PLEASE! That’s a total joke. No one cared two figs about Andrew and Fergie, sorry. We cared about Diana, though, and Meghan & Harry have the same, magnetic appeal. It should have been celebrated, not expelled. Petty royal jealousy is the only thing at play here. The BRF very well may go down now. They pushed out the two people who could have saved them with relevance—think about it! Biggest mistake of Prince Charles entire entitled life. He should have stood up to Mommy for once (not to mention William, the prig) and never let this happen.
There was a brief — VERY brief — period after Andrew and Fergie’s wedding, no longer than about six months, when their popularity was greater than Diana’s. I remember the Vanity Fair article that came out at the time, “Is Fergie’s Fizz Leaving Diana Flat?” But then Fergie got up to her usual shenanigans and sank both her popularity and Andrew’s. The primary difference between Andrew/Fergie and Harry/Meghan is that neither of the latter are coarse, tacky, professional grifters.
Fergie was not popular with all. She got heavily criticized for outrageously mugging as she walked down the aisle at the wedding.
Who’s wedding, Tessa? Her’s?
Yes, Fergie’s wedding. I saw a clip of it recently and it was embarrassing to watch.
Meghan is intelligent and is an independent thinker. Of course it be difficult to adapt to that ridiculous family.
right? a smart, independent person would have a really hard time accepting the pettiness, stupidity, and absurdity of belonging to the BRF. I know I would have been rolling my eyes so often they would have gotten stuck.
@originallala, I so agree with your statement. I cannot imagine what was running through Meghan’s head but I wish I knew!!! To know one has a platform to be seen and heard and they don’t really use it, is unbelievable.
And I agree with Kaiser on the Queen. She is a petty person and cannot fathom to move forward. I have lost respect for this entire family except for a select few. The toxic and fiction spinning with lack of accountability is a mirror of what is wrong in our society.
DWTM!!!!
“To know one has a platform to be seen and heard and they don’t really use it, is unbelievable.”
The BRF only started doing charity because they were afraid to be ousted in the wake of WWI and the Russian Revolution. It was never about effecting change but about them surviving in a changing world. I do think that some of the royals care about their causes, those that want to live a fulfilled life. But caring about using their platform was never a genuine thing with them (and the institution). It has always been a thing to ensure their survival in a world where the very thought that the entire institution can be abolished is no longer unimaginable.
I don’t think a longer dating period would have mattered. From the first time she was seen with Harry, Meghan got nasty remarks on blogs and in the media. Some in denial that they were still a couple and they had broken up “ages ago.”
In a way I think Harry’s naivety and idealism did Meghan an unintentional diservice. I remember in their early interviews he talked about Meghan marrying in to a big family, which she had never known, and how they connected over a desire to change the world. He totally believed they would work as a team to use the royal platform to modernize the monarchy and the commonwealth. Then they ran headlong into institutional jealousy and racism. How did he not see that coming, at least the petty jealousy? He thought he had enough clout in the family to protect her? It’s really sad.
Perhaps more realism, a longer dating/engagement period (but racism would have eventually permeated),or simply planning a strategic exodus from the beginning could have spared her the trauma of the scale of the bullying and break with the family? Probably just wishful thinking. But Harry ideally would have been more clear-eyed and farsighted in what he sold to Meghan, at least about the possibility his brother, father, grandmother would cause Diana 2.0.
I think it’s all a lot more complicated than that. You can boil it down to jealousy and racism because those were the feelings at the core of the behavior H&M experienced, but I think it was likely more complicated. I mean, I’m still confused as to why Harry was allegedly no longer allowed to call out the press publicly any more. He had never needed permission before and had never shied away from the topic in the past. There had to have been some unprecedented changes behind the scenes that Harry might not have been able to see coming.
I don’t think we Americans truly get the classism that exists in the BRF. If your not raised to defer to anyone who is higher status then you end up offending them. I have always thought this played along with racism that turned the family on Meghan.
Kate was raised that way and defers to those higher up than her but apparently is in love with her relatively high status. Basically a whole family of petty bi!ches.
I dont think the Queen from her 80s to 90s would care much of anyone over shaddowing her as long as they ‘acted accordingly.’ With Fergie and Diana they were popular for the wrong reasons to her,but i think with the grand daughters in law its probably the men in grey that have an issue.
I agree with you. Wasn’t there this awful statement by some British courtier/ex-courtier or royal biographer who was like, Meghan’s just ‘too sexy’–the racist dogwhistles, slut-shaming, misogyny, all amplified once a woman of color came blazing onto the scene and made their English rose look like the dull, lazy woman she is? I think the courtiers/men in gray have a huge hand in the Meg-smearing. And the Queen seems to have no problem with that.
The Queen at this point is probably like ‘meh’ someone else can deal with it. And i feel Charles is just a weasel in his older age,after his and Camillas image were rehabilited in the last decade he doesnt want to ever be the ‘villain’ again.
Not everybody thinks Charles and Camilla are rehabilitated but they will be next monarch and consort nevertheless. I hope William has a long wait. I don’t like the way Charles threw Harry and Meghan and Archie under a bus.
“Not everybody thinks Charles and Camilla are rehabilitated”
@Tessa – You are so correct. There are many gossip sites and tabloid commentariats that can not stand Chuck & Cams and do not want them to come to the throne. Charles & Camilla get more of a “pass” on Celebitchy than any other site I frequent.
Those forums remain the minority, not just among royal watchers but of the population as a whole. The majority of the UK population doesn’t care about royals. Those who do? Do not care about a failed first marriage 30 years ago and a subsequent remarriage.
I don’t see royals as “tourist attractions”. There is more to a visit to the UK than “royal watching. IMO anyway.
“Nigel added that Prince Charles “genuinely made an attempt to support what Harry and Meghan were looking for as long as it wouldn’t upset other HRH’s.” So mostly it was about coddling the Cambridges. Charles is a weak man and will be a weak king.
He let his youngest grandchild be likened to a chimp. Charles’ silence speaks volumes.
Yes it did. The silence of the entire family spoke volumes.
He’s spineless and was too terrified of negative press and his hothead son to do something. The press have him and William in chokehold I think. His reign will be…..interesting to say the least.
Now I just want to rearrange how they’re positioned in the photo. FFF King George Longlegs standing between his parents, Charles holding baby Louis, and Charlotte between Charles and Camilla.
Better!
Charles should have held his only granddaughter. He only seems to issue one on one photos with the male children.
Seconded, it’s really wonky! Probably blah. blah, protocol, blah. Either way, it isn’t a well composed picture.
It’s heirs on this side, future outcasts on the other. Yes, I’m saying it now. Charlotte will be thrown under the bus. And Louis eventually as well, but Kate had to pose with the baby to remind us of her one job.
I remember a portrait of Henry VIII that he commissioned. He put Jane Seymour in the center with him and Prince Edward, and Henry’s two daughters on the outskirts of the painting. Charlotte’s spot reminds me of that. She should have been with her siblings instead of put over to the side.
I’ve always thought that painting must have been so difficult for Mary and Elizabeth to see. There’s Prince Edward, standing dutifully and closely at his father’s knee, and Mary and Elizabeth not only on the sidelines but separated from the main family group (Henry VII, Edward and Jane Seymour) by pillars. Given that the royal fools (Jane the Fool and Will Somer) are also in the painting, but outside of the royal space and framed by arches, I’m thinking that the framing was deliberate, with fools and princesses alike shown apart from the main royals. I can’t imagine how depressing that must have been, particularly for young women who had lost their mothers.
And that portrait was commissioned while he was married to Catherine Parr! Instead of having his current wife in the portrait, he included the dead one who gave him his only legitimate son.
Jealousy appears to be a really dominant gene with the Windsors…..even littlest in the clan (George) have supposedly already began battling feelings of envy and jealousy over the most benign issues.
Yep. Like going around calling himself, “Archie.”
Yeah the kids don’t have great manners for royals. Charlotte sticking her tongue out too :/
Florence we can pass sticking out the tongue as cheeky but Charlotte was rude at this age to reporters. She said you are not coming during Louis christening. It’s not cute and kids in that age usually be nice to people but her saying that is red flag and William had a smirk and he didn’t correct her. That’s says lot about parenting because these kids will be in public life and has to meet many people and being rude to that camera man for no reason is very wrong. It doesn’t matter what their parents think of their papers but kids are innocent and they should not behave that way.
My fav Charles freak out is over Edward wearing some special tartan pattern that only the PoW should wear. They are really fragile it’s nuts.
At least Meghan escaped those outfits.
I don’t even think these so called royal biographers are helping the royal family. Every thing they say concerning Meghan reminds every reasonable person that the firm has no place in the modern society and should be abolished. They expected her to marry him and just sit at home doing nothing? Which you know they would have still blasted her for. And the attempts to connect Andrew to them is just disgusting and pathetic. It’s incomparable. It’s also funny how they keep shooting themselves in the foot trying to get ahead of omid’s book, which will not even contain the juicy details. I would like Meghan or Harry to write an autobiography later. They’ve only been gone 6 months and the amount of trash churned out to by the so called experts to excuse the royal family’s trash behavior is laughable. As for overshadowing Charles that ship has sailed,no one is really checking for him and when/ if William becomes king, the kids will take over so it’s just funny watching both baldy and sausage fingers plot in vain.
The Meghan and Harry critics are pouncing on the Campbell book as “factual” biography. She it seems got the “facts” (translation: gossip) from Meghan’s “friends” And some are believing all the stuff Campbell writes.
How many copies has her book sold, I wonder? Because a lot of the Meghan haters are trolls with multiple accounts, I.e. Samantha. Is she going to buy all the copies?
I hope the book gets panned. In comments on Amazon and in reviews.
Does anyone know of the British writer, Sean Smith? He has a book coming out in the fall about Meghan called “Meghan Misunderstood.”
“Meghan Misunderstood is a pioneering book that sets the record straight on the most talked about, unfairly vilified and misrepresented woman in the world.
Don’t know him/haven’t heard of it, but I’m intrigued!
Charles was jealous of Diana, serial cheater.
Will is jealous of Harry, serial cheater.
Apple does not fall far from the tree as they say.
Only difference is that Kathy does as she’s told and fades into the background, so Bill had to find someone else to be irrationally jealous over.
Charles made a mistake marrying an aristocrat if what he wanted was a kate-type wife. Diana was young and naive, but she was also titled, pedigreed, and in love with romance. From the beginning, he had more to lose than she did, as evidenced by the fact he’s still living in her shadow.
Charles and his family expected the young Diana to get right out and work. I don’t think he’d want a Kate type, in that regard. He’d want a worker. Charles was somewhat of a snob in choosing his wife and mother of his future children, he’d probably have wanted an aristo. If Diana had said no, he would look to another young woman from an aristo family to marry and have children with. I can’t see Charles going having heart to hearts with a Carole type person.
My take is Charles thought an aristocrat knew how the game worked. Two heirs and then everyone goes their separate ways while maintaining a united public face.
In the 19th century Bertie married a Danish Princess Alexandra who had to learn to look the other way. They did not exactly go their separate ways and had a large family.
@Carolina … Would Charles be a serial cheater if he only cheated with one woman? I don’t know. I still think Charles was out voted in the meeting he had with Queen Elizabeth and William to discuss what to do with Harry and Meghan.
I believe William was the driving force with the Queen’s wholehearted support. In my opinion, William couldn’t deal with the popularity of House Sussex and his shy, insecure wife Kate desparately wanted to put Meghan in her ‘place’ for doing more work and being a good public speaker.
This is in no way said to excuse Charles’s behavior, but I seem to recall that Diana had several affairs of her own while married.
@Yvette – I think there was more than one mistress. It wasn’t only Camilla. But I’m not positive.
Re: this line from your comment:
“I still think Charles was out voted in the meeting he had with Queen Elizabeth and William to discuss what to do with Harry and Meghan.”
I think that is what happened and I think this author is basically saying that – the line about trying to keep all the other HRHs happy. What other HRHs? The York princesses? They wouldn’t have been a factor here. I don’t think Charles’s siblings would have either. So it really does seem like Charles had to give up Harry and Meghan in order to keep William happy.
The more stories they keep circulating about the “real reason” for Sussexit the worse the royal family – and William in particular – look.
Diana was in effect cut loose by Charles after she had the heir and spare. She knew it was a lost cause with Charles–he had been seeing Camilla the whole time and at some point he became intimate with her again. she was only in her early twenties so she moved on as well. Charles was said to be relieved when Diana got involved with Hewitt.Charles had more than one mistress, he had an on again off again mistress, Janet Jenkins who was involved with Charles when he was married to Diana and involved with Camilla. There was also the other married mistress Lady Tryon who was cast aside by Charles even though he praised her as the only woman who ever understood him.
There was Kanga Tryon, the one Diana befriended and united with against Camilla. She wore Kanga’s terrible 80s fashions to help promote her brand.
Kanga was besotted by Charles and even after he dropped her from his “set” she wanted to continue to see him. He broke off all contact with her and would not contact her when she was dying. For a while they were “hot and heavy”.
None of which alters the fact that Diana befriended Kanga, knowing Kanga was one of Charles’s mistresses. It appears she didn’t have trouble with Kanga, and helped to promote her clothing line.
Dale Tryon was “safe” for Diana since Charles dumped her. Although Dale must have hidden from Diana that she was still attracted to Charles to say the least.
Why isn’t Charlotte wearing tights for an official portrait. Thought it was ‘protocol’?
As sad as it is nobody is interested in Andrew’s alleged crimes& misdemeanours so that’s why they try to associate Harry with him so people will pay attention. Nigel can’t promote this book on Andrew’s name alone.
I doubt the Queen was jealous of attention Sussexes were getting. I think the futures were. And that the courtiers didn’t like her heritage, previously professed politics& that they couldn’t just mould her so sought to drive her out.
I highly doubt the queen was jealous too. She even said she was proud of how quickly Meghan took to her duties and fitted in. It was Bill ‘n Karen and the courtiers, you betcha. I don’t agree with Nigel, yet another ” royal expert.” What a bullshit term. Remember the “royal expert” who said Meghan was just a fling and wouldn’t get a title?” Yeah, that one. Bunch of idiots.
Did Kate cry about “no tights” for this pose?
Yeah right? Why am I seeing a sea of bare legs in that front row. Everyone needs to put on tights before anarchy erupts!
I mean, all I’m reading here is that Meghan should be Queen.
Love it!
Honorary Queen of Hearts. Speaking as a fellow CA native, I want her to stay here.
The same Charles who was so jealous of his own wife? The one he thought was going to be quite, subservient and deferential? The one he got his friends in the media to call a whore?? Charles is a survivor and will throw anyone under the bus even his own sons. His current alliance with Willileaks is because they have a common enemy. I live for the day Willileaks and the Middletons will oust him. Already they are planting stories in the press for the line of succession to skip him. All I can say is that I am glad Harry called their bluff and left. He didn’t want to end up like the bloated, tone deaf and thoroughly amoral Andrew.
They may plant stories all they like – changing the line of succession is extremely difficult and no one wants to spend the time and work to make it happen within the Establishment.
It would be easier to phase out the royals altogether. End all the free housing, vacations, cars and other perks and then watch them find real jobs.
Exactly! And that is why no one wants to propose a change in the line of succession – because that would open the door to the question of why having a monarchy at all?
They can plant all the stories they want, it nothing will come of it. After all, if the line of succession can so easily skip Charles, it can just as easily skip William.
Carol would be wise to back off. Who says if public opinion and choice are given any weight, Wills will be the choice?
It would take an act of Parliament ratified by all Commonwealth Countries to change the Succession. It took 10+ years to get rid of Primogeniture after it had been talked about for 20+ years. Only when Kate when became pregnant with George did David Cameron make any effort to “hurry matters along”.
So now they use ‘primageniture’ as well, hee hee.
I love the idea of William being hoisted on his own petard and skipped over himself when the time comes. Impossible, but such a lovely idea.
They’re not skipping Charles. The main ‘excuse’ people give is that Charles was unfaithful, therefore he cannot be king or Head of the Church of England. The Church that was founded by a randy king who wanted to divorce his wife and marry his mistress.
Goose, gander. Or in this case, gander gander. If Charles would be skipped for being unfaithful, William would be skipped for the same reason.
A bit off topic: I wonder why Charlotte is sort of off to the side in the photo. I never saw Charles with a one on one photo of his only granddaughter. He is just photographed with the male children.
It would have made so much more sense to put Charlotte on Charles’s lap and have George sit next to Camilla. The picture sort of looks off balanced because Charlotte is there at the end (so it’s a little “top heavy” on the bench from left to right, if that makes sense.) But they push the whole future monarchs thing so much that of course Charles has to hold George.
It’s like Charlotte is “separated” from the others. She could have been closer to her parents by sitting on Charles’ lap. Charles also has special one on one photos with Louis published but none with Charlotte. He had said he wanted a daughter then a granddaughter.
I actually think this isn’t too far off, but is more about Kate and William than the Queen or Charles himself. He will be King, no matter what. But I think Charles is very aware, that ‘King William’ is not set in stone. Charles is far more a dutiful member of the Royal Family than an actual loving father. He wants his son to continue the reign of his family. I also believe that the Diana factor plays a huge part in this – she overshadowed him for most of their marriage. Meghan would have overshadowed him, his oldest son and his wife. Charles (plus WIlliam and Kate and others) threw Meghan under the Bus, because they were so afraid to re-live Diana 2.0. Diana almost brought down the Royal Family (even in her death). Meghan would have burned the Palace down with her work ethic, compassion and star power.
The royal family would not have been anywhere near brought down if they appreciated star power of those like Diana and Meghan and Harry as well.
I totally agree. But they are either too stupid or too lazy to appreciate women like Diana or Meghan.
Instead they choose to be intimidated and insecure.
The thing is the Firm did it to themselves. They treated Diana like crap as soon as she married (her words, they were nice to her before), and Meghan too. They created a war based on their own fear. It didn’t need to be that way. They could have just been nice and let them get along with the job at hand. But no, they deserve the backlash they get.
I am not so sure it was just about Diana that made them happy when she married in. It was the Idea that Charles would not become another Edward VIII abdicating for the sake of a married mistress. The QUeen Mother was said to be especially worried. They thought (including Camilla) Diana would be accommodating to whatever Charles did and Diana should be Flattered That Charles chose her to have royal children with. CHarles saw marriage more as a concept and did not consider Diana may not agree with his ideas about marriage (Charles packing books for Diana to read on the honeymoon was one sign of his being clueless). When Diana became popular with the public even when she was still a teen, it was anathema to Charles.
I doubt the Queen is the jealous force he was really worried about. She’s in her 90’s, I’m sorry but I don’t think she gives *that* much of a damn at popularity at this point. It’s obvious that Charles and William (mainly William and the Kardash—I mean Middletons) conspired to get rid of Meghan and Harry. It’s crazy that these people have everything you could want in life but are still not satisfied. It’s still not enough.
This is my theory too. People soften with age. Maybe if Liz were going to be around for another 10-20 years she would be jealous, but now she is probably looking for someone that isn’t going to let the firm go to sh!t. She’s probably pissed at this outcome actually, never suspecting H&M would leave. Harry’s been crying wolf about leaving for 20 years. If she thought he would actually, really leave I think she would have stopped the abuse.
Agreed. She didn’t make H&M the President and Vice-President of the Commonwealth whatever thingy for nothing. She definitely had long-term plans for them.
“If she thought he would actually, really leave I think she would have stopped the abuse.”
Which says a lot about her, none of it good.
She could have stopped the abuse because, well … it was ABUSE, of her grandson, his wife and her great grandson. But she didn’t bother.
I suspect that she doesn’t think it was abuse but just bad press – and that you just have to soldier on with a stiff upper lip rather than change or exit a toxic situation. The Royal Rota made Harry and Meghan’s work conditions toxic. Having to interact with people you do nothing but slander you and undermine your work IS a toxic work situation. However, the Queen refused that request so they exited – and that is inconceivable to the Queen so she didn’t see it coming. I bet Harry and Meghan’s decision sent the royals and their staff reeling because none of them would ever think that anyone would leave the institution voluntarily.
I suspect that she doesn’t think it was abuse but just bad press – and that you just have to soldier on with a stiff upper lip rather than change or exit a toxic situation. The Royal Rota made Harry and Meghan’s work conditions toxic. Having to interact with people you do nothing but slander you and undermine your work IS a toxic work situation. However, the Queen refused that request so they exited – and that is inconceivable to the Queen so she didn’t see it coming. I bet Harry and Meghan’s decision sent the royals and their staff reeling because none of them would ever think that anyone would leave the institution voluntarily.
Aaaaaaaand there it is. I’ve had this discussion so many times with my two sisters – one a Kate lover-Meghan hater, and the other a woman once fascinated by the BRF but nowadays, mmmmm, not so much.
‘Prince Charles feared there could be “problems” with the Duchess of Sussex joining the royal family…”
Whether he believed/said this or not, I’ve been saying for years that they’d spin this line at some point. I’m just surprised it took so long. I reckon the BRF has done its dash, but they, and everything about them, have been a massive tourist attraction for Britain. No one’s going anywhere for the foreseeable future, though, and even if BoJo removes all the travel restrictions for the mainland, can or will those local tourists generate enough tourist dollars to keep the Windsor’s viable? Pull the plug now, I say.
Obviously Charles looked at the possibility of problems involving Camilla joining the family. Yet he was proactive and got her “out there” as early as 1997 doing charity work. He hired an expensive spin doctor who worked with her for years. If he “foresaw” problems, then why did he not lift a finger to help Harry’s wife . After that one ‘gesture’ of walking her down the aisle he did not lift a finger. He did not squelch rumors that he told Harry and Meghan to leave the garden party because they”offended” him–this was put out on blogs and so forth and Campbell even put this in her book as “fact.” Charles has a lot to answer for. IMO.
There were so many things Charles could have done to help Meghan and Harry but in the end, he and the entire family are too selfish, self-centered and full of ego to see how helping the Sussex’s would have benefited them all in the long run. Now the whole world has seen the British Royal Family for who they really are and what they really think and no matter how they try to spin, none of them look good.
I’m sure the trolls will claim with their “insider knowledge” that of course Charles tried but Meghan refused to listen because reasons (including being American, divorced, black, actress, Oprah, Obama, the sky is blue)
>> “there’s only room for one strong royal woman – the Queen.”
Ewwww.
Not legitimately “strong’ but definitely bossy! Lizzie’s supposed strength comes from the sentimental elderly who remember she drove an ambulance in WWII, old aristocratic families who still consider themselves in a world apart from the rest of us, where normal rules don’t apply, & those who benefit financially from Lizzie’s patronage & largesse.
Reading this excerpt and the comments made me examine that official family photo closely. What I see is a coldness, the only person that seems genuinely happy is Baby Louis. Harry and Meghan are gently touching each other, seemingly from deep love and for moral support. Camilla seems like her pose and expression wouldn’t change if she was sitting next to a complete stranger. Charlotte does just seem to be there as an outlier. It’s so weird, because no professional photographer would align a family with kids like this. There doesn’t seem to be a bond between George and Prince Charles, just like there didn’t seem to be one with his own sons while their mother was alive. Everyone is well aware of what the succession line is supposed to be, it’s ridiculous to pose people in this order to reinforce a known fact.
I mean, have you ever tried to take family photos with small children at that age? I think trying to psychoanalyze kids in pictures like this is useless. We really have no idea what kind of relationship Prince Charles and George have. Also George is a little too big to be sitting on Charles’s knee anyways, he looks annoyed to be doing that. Usually the last thing kids want to do is sit and look pretty to take a formal photo, they just want to play and run around. Just because they are small royal kids doesn’t make it any different. I know because I was the exact same way. There are pictures of me making faces for YEARS in family pictures throughout elementary school, it’s kind of embarrassing haha. I’m always looking miserable and like I want to be elsewhere. And there are pictures of me and my sister looking mad and annoyed in so many of these kinds of pictures when we were young.
The one thing I do remember is that this picture came out before the announcement that Meghan was pregnant and that it was taken in the summer. I’m pretty sure Meghan is in the very early stages of pregnancy here due to the timing of her announcement only a few months later.
Yeah, posing for a formal family photo isn’t fun for anyone, but especially for kids. Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlotte dug her heels in about where she was going to be situated. I mean, maybe she was supposed to be on Camilla’s lap but refused.
Also, everything is in the “eye of the beholder,” so to speak, because I think Kate, Will, Charles and Camilla look happy and relaxed in this photo–and believe me, I’m no fan of Kate and Will’s. It’s Harry whose smile isn’t very genuine (understandably), and Meghan just looks kind of tired (which would make sense if she was in her first trimester).
Wow. Charles is a wimp. He genuinely tried to support Harry and Meghan as long as it wouldn’t upset the other HRHs? This reads Wills and Kate to me, not the Queen. If it was the Queen the “source” would have said it, as everyone talks about not upsetting the Queen. However, The Big Thing That Cannot Be Mentioned is how everyone is afraid to upset Wills. And it seems that everything upset Wills except the idea of sending Harry and Meghan off to Africa. That idea he seemed eager to go with.
Is there anything we can point to that Wills and Kate did to try and support H&M? All I’ve seen is Wills try to capitalize on his brother’s bad press by flying commercial and Kate refuse to acknowledge them at the Commonwealth service. Likewise, we’ve seen Harry & Meg’s moving away from the bully..their home, their office, and then finally their country. This isn’t about a strong woman, this is about outshining. The source should have used that word as it’s more accurate.
I doubt that Charles is okay with the situation as it is because his reign will need support, he’s closer to Harry than he is to William, and he actually had ideas to use Meghan positively. He doesn’t care to use her negatively to shield Andrew, he hates Andrew. The RRs are just trying to pivot to “Meghan ribbed the Queen the wrong way” because everyone loves the Queen and at this point, it’s the only angle that makes Sussexit palatable. In reality, the tea has been that Lilybet is spending most of her time in the 1950s, she has little to no idea what is going on, and she doesn’t care either.
Sorry, not sorry, but I hate Charles and his whole family still in the U.K. This royal family is the most vicious and alienating one in all of Europe. Other monarchies seem benevolent and progressive, but not this one. The problem is innate in this family and not with the good women (Diana and Meghan) who tried to join it. Harry is the only decent “blood” royal and they drove him out.
“This royal family is the most vicious and alienating one in all of Europe. Other monarchies seem benevolent and progressive, but not this one.”
It’s no accident. Most of the other European monarchies got knocked down a peg or two in humility by the various skirmishes of the 20th Century. Particularly World War 2, where most all but Britain had their homelands run roughshod over by the Nazis. It scared them good.
The British royals still carry an air of superiority because of it, thinking it makes them the preeminent royals of all.
(Never mind the bit about the Americans and Russians being the only reason they aren’t speaking German though. Details, just details.)
It happened a bit earlier for the Danish royal family. Christian X meddled in politics by firing the government and the monarchy came very very close to being abolished. He rehabilitated his image greatly during the Occupation, mainly because he listened to the daughter-in-law. Ingrid had a natural flair for PR and the DRF wouldn’t be as popular as it is if it weren’t for her – or for the fact that they line of succession was changed in 1953 because Frederik IX’s previous heir (his brother) just wasn’t suitable. Plus, Ingrid really taught her daughter Margrethe II well.
Sweden was neutral during WWII – and apart from the Spanish monarchy, is one of the least popular ones, though CP Victoria seems to quite popular so it has got an extended lease on “life” because the current king is not very popular.
Swedes may be genuinely embarrassed and conflicted at the idea of royalty. They pride themselves on being egalitarian, but here’s this family of French aristocrats ‘ruling’ over them.
TEAMMEG, I agree with everything you said, except about Charles’s biggest mistake, which in my opinion, was marrying poor Diana with no intention of loving or being faithful to her. Bastard.
All I’ll say is that I’m looking forward to the next few years. Without H and M close by to shield them from negativity, thIs absolute snakes nest of a family will show its colours and will have no one to blame but themselves.
Meghan did everything she was supposed to do and dimmed her light! You could see the contrast clearly after they returned to the UK in March, she wore brighter colours and makeup because clearly dimming her light didn’t work so she dressed how she wanted. Was she supposed to stutter when she gave speeches at work?
The Queen is not a strong woman. She exists merely to do the charity work needed to justify her family expense and existence. Nobody, not even Meghan, can change the hierarchy, everyone knows she is at the top so why would anyone try to undermine her? They need to be more worried about FFK and FFQ stories undermining Charles and Camilla. Or maybe they’re just letting these stories run so that the two of them can remain safe under the radar.
“He chose not to back up his son and daughter in law.” Precisely that. He is/was father of the groom, the Prince of Wales and……nothing. Imagine that: not lifting a finger to help your own son. And his wife and child. It’s hard to imagine having him as a father, frankly. As a royal watcher, I love him because he’s such a dandy, and kind of harmlessly ridiculous with his clothes, etc. But, underneath all of that: he’s ruthless
How close to reality is The Crown? The scene when the Duchess of Windsor tells Charles to watch out for his family. He replies ‘they mean well’ and she says ‘no they don’t’. Seems true enough.
The Queen is not “strong,” she checked out a long time ago. Charles is concerned about Charles.
Why did I *never* think of her race? I was aware of course, but never considered it after I initially read about it. I still don’t think about it, so all the outcry took me by surprise.
The queen is not strong. A truly strong person is not threatened by other strong people. Just my .02.
Exactly!
Especially a truly strong person with the resources the Queen has.
Why would she be threatened by anyone? I smart person would have seen Harry and Meghan as the assets they were to the Royal Family and the Britain. But instead The Queen, Charles, William and Kate all apparently thought squashing them, demanding the hide their light under a barrel and/or holding them to some impossible standard was a better approach.
They were wrong.
The only people who are going to come out looking good in this are H & M.
Everyone else is toast. It’s just a matter of time before the monarchy collapses around their ears.
Sure its meghans fault. Not that they started praising Kate to high heavan as a stick to trash Meghan with.
Wow the RF/COURTIERS must be petrified of scobie’s book. Every week they have a new story that looks like they’re denying an accusation!!! That just makes them look guilty
This doesnt paint him in a good light. How insecure must you be to think that your son is a “threat”!!! I’d be embarrassed to be related to such pathetic idiots