More excerpts from Robert Lacey’s Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, which is looking like a very insidery look at an out-of-touch Queen, her stuffy, uncreative henchmen and a sadistic, wrathful future-future king. This story is one of the few excerpts which is NOT about Prince William getting pissed off at Harry and Meghan for refusing to be under his complete control. This story is about how the Queen and Buckingham Palace completely misjudged and mishandled the Sussex situation. It’s mostly about how, several years back, the Prince of Wales and Duke of York briefly joined forces to oust Sir Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s long-time private secretary and de facto COO of the Firm.
Geidt was not beloved, but he was smart and creative and he kept the Firm on a tight leash. He was replaced by Sir Edward Young, a dull traditionalist who became a pawn in many royal comings and goings. Young is being partially blamed for the Sussexit because he truly had no idea how to handle and manage Meghan and Harry’s popularity, so he just did what all of those stuffy, terrible old men do: sat back and watched as the palaces and media joined together to destroy the Firm’s brightest new asset.
The Queen fired Geidt on Charles & Andrew’s instructions: At that age, commented one courtier, ‘you don’t want the hassle of having a big fight, do you? Isn’t it better that everything calms down?… It was one of the most shameful and, frankly, shabby decisions that the Queen has made in her entire reign,’ says one extremely senior and distinguished court correspondent. ‘All Geidt wanted was to have everyone singing from the same hymn sheet, but that is not Charles’s agenda any more.’
How Geidt would have handled Meghan: ‘Geidt would have put on his thinking cap,’ says one veteran royal analyst. ‘He would have reflected on the big picture — what it meant to the monarchy and Britain as a whole. He would have talked to the couple to ask them what they wanted to do, then come up with some defined strategy. He would have looked at our multi-racial country and got them committed to some exciting new initiative — Meghan as a newcomer and Harry as a wavering team-member — so they felt pledged to the way ahead and could see how its success required them to stick at the job.’
But Sir Edward Young lost Meghan’s respect quickly: ‘As things started to go wrong,’ says someone who watched the new Duchess’s relationship deteriorate with the private secretary, ‘Meghan came to perceive Young as the inflexible, bureaucratic figure who summed up what was at fault with the palace mentality, and the feeling was mutual. ‘Young really came to dislike Meghan’s style.’
The Queen brought Geidt back into the fold: Early in 2019, just 18 months after his hustled departure, it was announced that Elizabeth II had invited her former private secretary to return to her side as her Permanent Lord-in-Waiting. It also gave Geidt a special position in connection with Meghan, whom Elizabeth II had recently invited to team up with Harry as vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. The Queen had already made Harry the president, with Geidt the chairman of trustees — the trust existing to champion ‘young leaders around the world who are driving positive social change’. The idea was for Meghan to do special work ‘supporting women and girls’. This was all part of a new strategy to integrate the young Duchess more fully into royal life — ‘Lord Geidt will be Her Majesty’s eyes and ears,’ explained a courtier.
Geidt’s big idea was to send Harry & Meghan to Africa: Geidt and the Queen sat down to frame a plan with Sir David Manning, a respected and well liked former diplomat — ambassador to the United States from 2003-7 and since 2009 a part-time adviser to the joint household of William and Harry. The big idea was to get Harry and Meghan out of the country for a decent spell. It would give everyone a breather. And by handing the recently ennobled Duke and Duchess a semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth, the plan also surely offered the best route yet devised to give a British ‘spare’ self-sufficient status that truly matched, but did not threaten, that of the heir. Modern South Africa, with its black-majority rule, could be just the spot — and the couple themselves seemed interested by the notion. Who knows what a different turn events might have taken had Geidt rather than Sir Edward Young been involved in the negotiations at Sandringham earlier this year?
So why didn’t it happen? ‘The tragedy,’ says a palace insider, ‘was that the Queen’s broader objective was actually to bring everyone back together, not to split them apart. There were obviously points of principle to defend, but Edward got stuck in the detail. He could not see the bigger picture. ‘This sort of family negotiation requires trust, along with the accepting of uncertainties and ambiguities.
“…A semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth, the plan also surely offered the best route yet devised to give a British ‘spare’ self-sufficient status that truly matched, but did not threaten, that of the heir.” Yeah. In March/April 2019, when Meghan was in her last trimester, various British papers (mostly the Times) began this drumbeat of “get the Sussexes out of the country” and “send them to Africa.” It was said that William, not Geidt, was the driving force behind the move, that he was suddenly very keen to take on an active role… in exiling his brother and sister-in-law. I think that’s what Lacey is talking around – perhaps Geidt and the Queen honestly believed they were fashioning a great position for H&M, but to H&M, it felt like William and the courtiers were trying to force them into exile out of jealousy. And honestly, were they wrong?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
“….Geidt would have put on his thinking cap,’ says one veteran royal analyst. ‘He would have reflected on the big picture — what it meant to the monarchy and Britain as a whole. He would have talked to the couple to ask them what they wanted to do, then come up with some defined strategy. He would have looked at our multi-racial country and got them committed to some exciting new initiative — Meghan as a newcomer and Harry as a wavering team-member — so they felt pledged to the way ahead and could see how its success required them to stick at the job.’”
^^^ This paragraph pretty much tells us who Robert Lacey’s source was. It also seems to indicate one of the reasons why Lacey had to go. I am guessing that being the pragmatist he was he did have plans for Harry and Meghan outside being the new Andrew and Fergie. That must have peed off a lot of family members who only saw H&M through the lens of the spare and his bi-racial wife….. but even the so called ‘enlightened ones’ were virulent racists. Meg had no chance.
Meghan and Harry’s exit will forever be a stone in the BRF’s garden. It speaks volumes about their attitude to class and race.
“Lacey had to go”?????
Did you mean “Geidt had to go”?
Yep sorry Geidt – duh !
This is all starting to read like an episode from “The Crown.” I’m actually quite intrigued with the behind the scenes inner workings and can believe that the Queen and Geidt had good intentions in suggesting South Africa as a 2 – 3 year stint for Harry and Meghan. The Queen possibly discussed this with William in an attempt to calm his anger and (very apparent) jealousy at all the attention the Sussexes attracted simply for being who they are, because the Queen herself went through something similar with Princess Margaret.
But petulant William seized this good intention from the Queen as a weapon, rather than a workable solution and an olive branch, to use against Harry and Meghan. Which is probably why he leaked it to the Press as a negative, and the Press phrased it like a punishment in the Tabloids–like an exile. William really is a piece of work.
Darn it! I hadn’t planned on it, but now I’m going to buy the book. It seems to me that even though Robert Lacey truly doesn’t like Harry and Meghan, his sense of honor and history leads him to spill genuine tea on everyone else as well. He certainly doesn’t paint William in a good light. Now I’m curious what he has to say about Keen Cate.
“Now I’m curious what he has to say about Keen Cate.”
Probably nothing because there is nothing really to say about a nothing.
I have always been struck that no one ‘put on their thinking cap’. WTF. I mean Meghan is a real deal execute and top notch speaker. Put her to work in the best way and if *someone* is jealous and then let them step up their own game. No way was Meghan difficult, she just wasn’t going all in with a courtier she could see wasn’t really up to the job. And she was correct, that’s why his predecessor was rehired. The queen should have supported Harry and Meghan publicly and let Will and Kate figure out their own paths. But now you have wont and cant who are petulant and useless. The queen did them no favors in the long run.
One thing these last couple of years have shown me is that Prince William is CRINGINGLY insecure, competitive, and jealous.
Lord, it’s so sad to see a grown man act so patently obvious in his attempts to tear down his brother and wife. (I can only Cringe 😕 – everyone can see it too)
I think Bill is entitled. They didn’t prepare him enough for his PoW role or future Kingship. True leadership is a real skill that Bill will never know of. It seems that Bill has guilt tripped Chuck for Diana since her death which meant that he has been given free reign to be a C*NT.
Interesting he guilts his father over cheating, when William had cheated on Kate for two decades.
I’ve just finished a re-read of The Secret Garden and William sounds just like Colin, the little boy who no one is allowed to say no to and who works himself up into huge tantrums over the slightest thing.
Saying ‘no’ to kids/people is essential.
Agreed, Even the excerpts here that are supposed to make Harry look weak or whining also end up making William look like a spoiled rotten bully.
It’s what happens when you never tell someone know and an average, actually way below average man starts to think he’s a genius and gets emboldened to think that way by everyone around him.
I know that Geidt guy is smiling right now, to see them crumble after they ousted them must be like a Sunday delight! 😋
He’s still there but just in a different capacity with even more power and access to the Queen. The Queen clearly does not trust her sons in the same way Chuck does not trust Bill.
For all the talk of putting the Crown first, this family is a mess with no sense of duty at all.
Yeah I realised after I said it, but I think my point in general still stands he is no longer in charge in charge, and it’s clear the Queen regretted her decision when it was all going bottoms up, which is why she invited him back when things were going wrong.
I think the problem here is that there are three different courts with three separate agendas. One of these courts is particularly malicious.
@Myra: +1
@Myra….yes. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Three separate courts with three separate agendas, fighting against each other. English royal history just repeats and repeats itself. The EXACT same thing happened with the sons of George V (see abdication of Edward VIII) and infighting with the queen’s father and his brothers. See the vicious infighting with the Hanoverian monarchs (George I, George II, George III, William IV.) See the Tudors for fighting, imprisonment and murder. See Edward IV and treason, execution and exile with his brothers (particularly George.)
The whole royal system is SET up to pitch houses against houses…….
Like any political history, royal history has always been riddled with factionalism. However, constitutional monarchies cannot really afford factionalism (even personal factionalism) since they rest on the polite fiction that they are apolitical and because they depend upon the public purse. So a royal house at war with itself in a constitutional monarchy is not a good thing. The fact that they cannot contain their petty family dramas make the entire institution look bad – and for some reason the BRF is especially bad at containing family dramas.
I recall when Meghan met with Geidt for one of the Commonwealth events and they did seem to get along well. While the South Africa story seems odd, as it is a republic and they wouldn’t want royalty hanging out there all the time, geidt was probably able to see things more outside of the box.
Also this Young guy sounds like a typical old white man sexist asshole who doesn’t like women with opinions. Nothing Meghan has done is that radical in the business world. But the royal circle is decades if not centuries behind in treating women equally.
““…A semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth…” They really don’t understand that Harry never particularly wanted to be just honored and celebrated because of his “luck” at being born into this family. That’s why he married someone whose work ethic (and empathy) matched his so closely. They want to actually help people, not just be feted and bowed to.
They really never, ever knew Harry.
That caught my eye too. *William* is the one who cares about status. Harry wants to help people and doesn’t care if his status matches Will’s because he isn’t threatened by his older brother.
Because William has nothing but status. That’s the only reason any pays attention to Billy the Basher.
“Send them to Africa!” has William’s fingerprints all over it. It’s a shame he didn’t call the psychic hotline again or he would have known being banished was not in the cards for Harry and Meghan’s future. They left and made their way to freedom and independence, not living in KP forced exile.
@ PEARL GREY, yes!! A thousand times, yes!! This demonstration of racism and to exile H&M to Africa has Wilileaks hand prints all over it! The problem with Wilileaks is that he will never be Harry! Wilileaks wants all the admiration and applause for doing nothing, yet he is still and will always be in his brothers shadow. Could you be any more racist in the fact that you wanted your brother and his wife exiled to Africa? What a POS Wilileleaks is!!
Harry is his mother’s son. Harry is sympathetic, engaging, humble, charismatic and a man that knows no bonds. Wilileaks has nothin g to show for all of his years in The Firm and cannot stand that people admire his brother but not him.
Harry in the people’s prince as he has shown himself to be a man of the people even though he is royal.
Tim Shipman is the one who broke the send them to Africa story and he clearly linked it to William. Since he isn’t Lacey and has a real job reporting politics beyond this crazy family, his report is far more credible than trying to toss Geist under the bus with that dumb idea.
Was it William that leaked Sussexit causing Meghan & Harry to release their proposal via their website?
Wootton got the tip from Christian Jones aka William and threatened to print it which is why Harry and Meghan made their website public.
It’s no coincidence that the biggest messes in PR have been linked to William.
I do think the idea of them relocating for an extended period of time (not to California lol) was discussed – after that Times story about “exiling” them, there was a statement about how any decisions were going to be made by the Sussexes in conjunction with the Queen and Charles – i.e. William had no say.
I do think Geidt would have handled the whole thing very differently, and I’m surprised he wasn’t involved in the Sandringham Summit.
“handing the recently ennobled Duke and Duchess a semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth”
Imagine thinking this would fly in today’s day and age. Knowing H&M, they would’ve never gone for this. 1.) the optics are horrible 2.) they’d want to actually get involved with the happenings of the Commonwealth countries. They’d never go for some ceremonies that mean nothing. 3.) They’d never be okay with being honoured for nothing.
And exactly the reason it was suggested. To get them to accept their regal roles as opposed to behaving like two do-gooders undermining the Tory connection of the Crown.
This was about Meg’s politics. She did not respect these entitled clowns and that is why they hated her and briefed against her. The press just happily ate it all up and fed off the drama. Happy days and new conservatories for Royal Rota twats.
you have got it just right!!!
And they’d NEVER go with the intention of spread essentially white supremacist propaganda. I think it’s clear from just the segment but they see black people as they are lowers and random stragglers rather than their companions, friends and equals like Harry does. They think we are stupid.
It’s about upholding the status quo. This is the real reason the BRF do not speak on politics bc they’re crazily conflicted. Social justice just does not make sense in the context of their world. This is why they are suspicious of the lower classes, black people, gay people, basically anyone that is different to them.
There is a line in the first Harry and Meghan film that KP ‘specifically’ objected to. And their objection was so loud it drew attention to the film. It was a line that Kate uttered about whether Meghan wanted ‘this sort of life’. I could never understand the objection at the time although it seemed pretty common sense i.e. the BRF and their traditions are a weird bunch, but years down the line the fractures were clearly there and they were ‘likely’ alluding to Meg’s leanings on the political spectrum and how she would fit into the institution. Also when examined more closely it also points to how ingrained the BRF are in British society in upholding white supremacist culture i.e. the idea of blue-blood lines, class divisions, being ordained by God etc ect.
In 2020 these notions are all repulsive, that is the real problem the BRF have with Meghan, she shines a torch on how glaringly problematic they are as an institution. It makes a more concrete case for abolitionists than any that came before. This is why they are hell bent on destroying her. I do not think the BRF will allow another outsider into the family after this debacle but if they do so, it will be someone who understands their politics and keeps their mouths shut.
“that is the real problem the BRF have with Meghan, she shines a torch on how glaringly problematic they are as an institution. It makes a more concrete case for abolitionists than any that came before.”
@Mignionette: thank you for this amazing comment! You’ve perfectly articulated why the BRF family have been in such a panicked state since H&M’s wedding. Meghan is an existential threat and this is how they are fighting back.
Awesome comment, @Mignionette! As a black woman, Meghan’s very existence is political. When you look at the things she’s actually said, they are pretty moderate. In fact, Prince Charles has said more intrinsically “radical” and “political” things than she has. Even if she had said nothing at all, the Rf would have likely reacted the same way to her. Everyone automatically attributes various points of view to her (like all the environmental “hypocrisy” she got regarding private planes when it was Harry and William and Charles who spoke about the environment” to make her seem “radical.” The way that they undermined or downplayed anything she accomplished only demonstrated how uncomfortable they are with her actually being good at the job, even better than Kate. (A sleepy housecat could do a better job as a royal than Kate, though). They have to “radicalize” her and make her “uppity” to discredit her because she’s showing that having “blue blood” doesn’t make a person intrinsically important–which goes against their very existence as an institution.
Pandora’s box is opened now. Charlotte and Louis will likely have more knowledge of the outside world than even William and Harry did in our social media world. They will have to keep those kids completely cloistered (good luck with that) to avoid a repeat of this situation. That is if there’s a royal family at all by that time. Or a royal family with any real influence anymore.
@MF1 and Lanne – I agree the cat is out of the bag and Pandora’s box is open.
Lanne your comment about the biracial woman doing the job is what black people experience every day on the job. It’s a huge element of how racism is covertly carried out in offices and good employees are gas lighted so they never feel comfortable or that they’re doing well bc for some awful bosses it undermines a lot of the views they clung to for so long.
“There is a line in the first Harry and Meghan film that KP ‘specifically’ objected to.”
What film are you referring to?
“I do not think the BRF will allow another outsider into the family after this debacle”
The exact same thing was said after Diana and Charles divorced.
@Tampa Bar
This one: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7883022/
I lived in South Africa for 15 years. The idea that Harry and Meghan (or ANY British Royalty) would be playing a ‘semi-regal role’ there is so incredibly ignorant, racist and insulting. A complete throwback to colonialism. I have no doubt they would have loved living there but if this was the intention, I am very glad it never came to fruition.
I said the same thing it’s fucking disgusting, and I’m sure Harry and Meghan saw that too which is why they declined. They wanted to impose White supremacist neo colonialism to basically ‘control the blacks’ and force them into another white saviour subjugating propaganda fest again to regain their strong hold 🤢. I feel sick!
It was a racist and colonialist idea – and the fact that the writer seems to think that this was Geidt being ingenious is appalling! It is clear that even one who is generally described as a competent royal aide is completely blond when it comes to things with racist and colonialist implications. These two old white men literally cannot see just how bad such a move would have looked from the perspective of the rest of the world (or just the perspective outside the insulated bubble of aristocratic/royal British privilege). It would never have gone down well outside of Britain, even if Meghan and Harry had agreed.
I mean’t “completely blind”, not “completely blond”.
“Geidt being ingenious is appalling”
I agree his idea was appalling. However, I believe Geidt was trying to a find a semi-temporary solution to buy time (2-3 years) that would allow a good & proper solution to be found that would make everyone (Charles, William, QEII and the Sussexes) happy. Geidt failed because his goal was impossible as there was is no solution to make everyone happy so the Sussexes did what best for them and their long term happiness.
I’m not sure this was Geidt’s idea. Shipman levelled this at William last year, which is more his stupid style. And making Geidt look bad would help Charles, since he turfed him and I still think Charles is involved in this Lacey book.
Meghan is smart enough to not fall into these PR traps which is why they didn’t move there. It’s not their country to call home, and she knows that. I think they would have enjoyed living there temporarily, but in a royal capacity, absolutely not. It’s just not tenable. If Canada has to front a security bill for the royals, it would be in poor taste to ask any African country to pay for security while the family lived there.
I think this came from up top in good faith (but poor taste) and William leaked this as an exile in the hopes of getting Britian back to himself. That plan has backfired because he no longer has the UK nor the world’s eyes on him. No one cares about FFK. All we see from him are false starts and bumbling.
‘A black majority country’ wtf does that mean, am I hearing right that they wanted neo colonialism??
Follow a few pro-Brexit accounts on twitter and all will become clear. A small proportion of the Brexit Gammons believe that the Uk will become great again by reverting to old tactics.
This rang off alarm-bells to me too. It reminded me of the sort of idiotic language you’d hear from a barely literate posh toff in the prelude to dismantling apartheid in the 80s and early 90s. “SA is a black majority country.” That one sentence alone speaks volumes about the age and outlook of the source who provided the quote.
God, these people are incredibly racist. Did they really think that exiling Harry and Meghan to South Africa would have been any different? They still would have stolen the limelight from William and co. Even Archie could steal the limelight from them. It is what it is. They should have waited until interests died down a little after a few years. Instead they did so much (and too much) and now Harry and Meghan is brand.
They even wanted to do it to ‘control the blacks’ it’s clear they know they are loosing their Stockholm syndrome royalist grip on Africa, South Africa in particular and other commonwealth countries, and were trying to give us another dose of ‘know your place’ 🤢🤢
For sure. There is clearly a colonialist agenda going on here and as much as we would have loved and welcomed Meghan, the idea of British royals broadening their empire in Africa is a definite no. Just the subtle message of “go back to Africa” is so gross.
I can’t even imagine how this plan, even Geidt’s proposal, would have worked. It sounds so silly and counterproductive.
Just shows that Geidt’s proposal wasn’t actually that intelligent and that they are completely blind to the racist implications of such a plan at all. Not surprisingly since they are all (also the Queen’s senior staffers) insulated by white, upper-class privilege.
It would be interesting if H&M ever decided to do something long term in Africa in a non-Royal capacity. Instead of being an advertisement for the RF they would be quite the opposite. H&M weren’t going to be happy anywhere unless they were able to just get down and work without all the cameras and fan fair. Meghan was known to sneak off to her patronages undetected by the press.
@mrya 100% the insult is not H &M going to an african country, but them being forced to go and Geidt automatically thinking 1) they belong there bc Meghan is black and 2) that we would even want them there. It reminds me of the caste systems they created in Kenya by importing Indians so there would be a two tier separation from black people and white people who were at the top
The only thing all of these people are showing is how utterly incompetent they are. In a corporation, they would have all been fired. They lost their best resource and more importantly, their insurance policy for their own survival over the next few decades. They are all revealing how the biggest problem they had with Meghan was how GOOD SHE WAS AT HER JOB WHILE BEING BLACK!!!
Those fools at the palace have now made Harry and Meghan bigger than they might ever have been on their own, and have insured that everything the royals do from now on will have the specter of the Sussexes hanging over it. Every time Kate gives a faltering speech, she will be compared to Meghan’s eloquence and competence. Every time Willam appears in public, he’ll be compared to Harry. Every tour they take, questions about the Sussexes will be written about in the media, if not openly asked. I hope they put Kate in speech lessons finally. It worked for Diana after all.
The royals need the Sussexes back. I wonder if they figured out that poisoning the country against them hasn’t worked. Even if the Sussexes are “poison” in the UK, they still have a global audience. I look foreward to seeing what will happen when the Sussexes visit someplace, and the response is bigger than for the royals. They don’t even have to act in concert with the royals anymore. They could time their announcements to the Cambridge initiatives and take all the focus away from them. (I don’t think they’ll do that intentionally, but the danger for the royals is that this could happen for anything they do).
Willileaks got exactly what he wanted. Hope he’s happy.
I’d say the punishment fits the crime. They feared the spare overshadowing the heir and they fed the press beast, which in turn made Harry and Meghan even bigger on the global scale, not to mention that the treatment of Meghan in particular brings shades of Diana for those of us old enough to remember. Diana became bigger than the BRF and now H and M are becoming bigger as well and considering how goal oriented they are, they are going to become quite influential. Now, the royals (especially William and Kate) will always be in the shadow of the more charismatic and glamourous couple who have a lager global cachet.
I bet the BRF thought that H and M would be like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, drifting around the world idle whilst engaging an ever dwindling audience (and very much dependent on money from the BRF). It seems like they didn’t take the personalities of the Sussexes into account. They are proactive and now they are completely financially independent, which is actually a problem for the BRF because the only thing that prevents the Sussexes from going to town on the BRF is the fact that they are decent people.
Could it be that Will threw a fit because he didn’t so much as want the Sussex’s exiled but rather as loyal supplicants. He just couldn’t stand the thought of Harry having anything good or significant.
I’m telling you man, Will is the reason the monarchy will be destroyed.
This. It has always been about William controlling Harry, demanding Harry continue in the role of scapegoat. Harry has fought that on his own for years, but with Meghan at his side, the two of them looked the abuse in the eye and walked away. William cannot stand the idea of Harry being 1) free and 2) happy. And William’s jealousy about Harry escaping the royal role, which William has always wanted to do.
William 100% wants Harry to be forever dependent on him, I think it’s part of his ego trip, he loves to be needed by people he doesn’t need *kate* cough cough, that’s s why she knew how to play him by going out with all those men on that week to win back willie she planned. She knows that William wants to be wanted by those he doesn’t wants and can’t STAND them being fulfilled elsewhere even if he doesn’t love them. He doesn’t want love or reciprocation he wants complete ownership over someone. I think Williams is saying Harry stand up to him and not need him nor really care for his existence and being happy elsewhere sent him into overdrive even if he didn’t want Harry
“handing the recently ennobled Duke and Duchess a semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth”
it’s reasoning like this that shows just how out of touch the BRF is with the rest of the world….
Yep! It is not the 1950s anymore.
It almost seems like they wanted to put Meghan on tour like a museum piece. “Here, Commonwealth country, we’ll loan you our black specimen to look at and celebrate and fete. That will make you happy and love us right? If we let you look on adoringly at our token black royal?” As if seeing one half black royal who travels the Commonwealth being shipped from country to country will ensure the commonwealth countries want to remain.
The other way to look at is that Meghan (and by extension Harry) could only be happy around or relate to people of color, especially in majority black countries. Like Meghan isn’t good enough or refined enough to be around all the white British people, and that must be why she’s so unhappy. Not because everyone is treating like her shit and trashing her, but because she needs to be around “her own people,” in Africa. And Harry, since he married a black woman, must also only be comfortable around black people now.
Yuck either way.
‘“handing the recently ennobled Duke and Duchess a semi-regal role visiting and being honoured ceremonially around the Commonwealth”
I see William seething at this idea, as colonial and out-of-touch as it is. William wants all the adulation for himself. Seeing Harry and Meghan embrace modern roles with the QCT, and them being toured around The Commonwealth and feted? More incandescent with rage William.
I’ve talked before about how problematic the whole “send them to Africa” story was but if the whole idea was “genuine” and I use that word with quotation marks, then why didn’t they just accept the “half in, half out” deal? Because it sounds like that’s what they wanted the Sussexes to do in Africa anyways – do a bunch of engagements and represent HM on her behalf.
Sending to them to South Africa wasn’t for half in half out in SA was to reimpose white supremacist royal propaganda because they know they’re losing African countries, whilst pawning Meghan is blackness which they deride to pander to people, they knew that, and that’s likely why they didn’t go, its grotesque.
That’s definitely it. It was what I was referring to when I said that I had talked about how problematic the whole thing is. It seems they were happy for the Sussexes to live abroad only if it was on their own outdated, colonial terms.
Exactly they were sending them to Africa (I mean look at how they didn’t even specify a country lmao! they think Africans all the sam) after deciding NOT to send them to Australia or Canada white majority countries As governor generals , because they thought they be too powerful and visible
Half-in, half-out meant William wouldn’t have control of Harry, Meghan, or the narrative. If they were sent to live in a Commonwealth country, Harry and Meghan wouldn’t have sat around twiddling their thumbs. They would have been out there, active, working with the people to make things better. As they are doing now, talking about breaking down institutional racism, highlighting rising young leaders, engaging as only they can. They would have been immensely popular, which William cannot stand.
At the end of the day, there is no model which would have satisfied William, except for Harry divorcing Meghan. Wherever they would have gone, they would have taken the spotlight from William, even he knew that. This is why the smear campaign has focused on making her the most hated figure in the UK.
A model where Harry and Meghan do all the work, raise all the funds, but W&K take the credit and the money. Where William controlled what events they were allowed to do, their tours, and controlled the media spin about it via the RRs. That was the model William wanted, but Harry and Meghan refused.
Wow. This whole thing gets crazier and crazier. Interesting that H&M seemed interested – it actually might have turned out well?
No it wouldn’t. The whole thing reeks of racism “let’s send our half black relative to Africa”, jealousy “If we send them to Africa, people won’t care” because you know, Africa doesn’t have media, internet and news – aka what white people think Africa is like. And lastly Africa is not a country, it’s a continent. They apparently had a lot of discussions about this yet not a single country has been named in said discussion.
I agree with you there – my point was that I feel like H&M might have found a way to make it “work”, if that makes sense.
Andy why?? because to them all black people are the same so surely Megan would be able to get on better with ‘her kind’ and be pandered to because of her lighter skin there, despite never having lived ANYWHERE around Africa her whole life!
My guess is that the Sussexes might have been interested in the idea of spending a significant portion of each year abroad, working to further the Commonwealth. An international role would have played to their strengths and their particular interests in women’s rights, sustainable travel, youth engagement etc.
But the moment it became clear it was really about biracial Meghan representing a white establishment neo-colonial agenda in black Africa, is probably the moment they rejected the whole idea. I bet the courtiers also told them they would be abroad as figureheads, not as agents of real change, so they shouldn’t get too ambitious. That also would have been a hard no for H&M.
The irony is that there was possibly a kernal of a good idea in H&M as commonwealth ambassadors, being engaged in real projects and initiatives, fostering the next generation of leaders.
The only thing that is blatantly clear is how outdated the Monarchy is.
The only thing that is blatantly clear is that the monarchy has run its course. The pandemic I feel really highlighted that. The Queen is incognito, the press keep Charles out of the news cycle and Bill and Katie are pimping their kids for clicks and crying into their bournvita about Netflix deals they can’t get.
It all goes back to the Heir to the Heir being insecure. Imagine being that jealous of your younger brother’s successes. Normal Bill’s going to bring the whole outdated institution down around him.
It’s funny that with the reports around Sussexit & complaints that Harry turned his back on his country, that the Firm’s plans to ‘send them to somewhere in Africa’ doesn’t come up..
I believe Tim Shipman’s article is pretty much the definitive one of what went down. Dan Wootton mentioned it too and how Samantha Latham was willing to go but suggested the Sussexes were being brats turning it down.
I think the Africa plan was suggested to cater to certain egos and the Firm really explored it. Tim’s article suggested that government officials were looking into it. Makes me wonder again what Boris Johnson set Harry aside to discuss on one of his last engagements.
I wonder at what point it was seen how colonialist the idea looked with no basis to set up a base for random royals in any African country. maybe for the Sussexes, knowing motivations behind it as well was why it was nixed. I remember at one point the press was reporting idea of them doing secondments and then there were newspaper debates etc about how security would be covered. But the press cycle moved on quickly.
I think knowing the Firm was seeking distance was when p/t option was explored by the Sussexes.
“I think the Africa plan was suggested to cater to certain egos”
Yes, specifically William’s ego. I’m sure they thought if they sent H&M far away, William would stop throwing incandescent rages because he’d finally have the limelight to himself.
Plus William thinks ‘Africa’ is a homogeneous entity made up entirely of hunting estates and preserves like Jecca’s family estate. To William, sending them to ‘Africa’ meant they’d never be heard from again.
If William wants the spotlight all to himself, he should just get up off his lazy ass and take it.
I would not be surprised if the Tories were in fact exploring, or at least incredibly interested in, such an idea. They used the commonwealth as a way to sell their idea of Brexit to the population. Their whole ideal for Brexit is that it’ll give them a chance to re-establish the British Empire 2.0, because of COURSE, all of us former colonies will be lining up to do business with Britain. Because obviously, there are just nO HARD FEELINGS there at ALL, oh *no*. We’re all just dying to get back into it with Britain, all over again. -eyeroll-
There is a very very curious intersection of royalty and politics in this whole debacle with Meghan and Harry, that I hope some enterprising author with actual credentials will take the time to explore. There is so much to be said about how the “”soft power”” that the British royals wield is essentially a romanticized cosplay of the British empire, which is deployed by the British govt fairly strategically for ginning up good will in places where they have geopolitical interests. They send the royals because they are perceived as “being above politics”, and the places they get sent to are often places where the British govt doesn’t have as much good will (W&K’s visit to Ireland at the start of the year for example). But it is an inherently political action nonetheless, but no one ever calls it as such. This is another example of that, but it’s short-sighted and racist in precisely the ways a plan of this type would be, coming from the Tories and the Tory allied staffer working for the monarchy.
“Their whole ideal for Brexit is that it’ll give them a chance to re-establish the British Empire 2.0, because of COURSE, all of us former colonies will be lining up to do business with Britain.”
Did not two countries just announce they they were leaving the Commonwealth and/or getting rid of QEII as their Head-of-State?
@BayTampaBay, yes. But even that’s not the problem with the whole “The Commonwealth will trade with us,” idea. The problem, for lack of a better term, is the plain and simple fact that all of those Commonwealth countries are sovereign nations in their own right, with their own priorities when it comes to international trade.
The Brexit contingent in Britain propagandized that countries in the Commonwealth would drop everything to leap at the opportunity to sign trade agreements with Britain. That they would all roll over and acquiesce with Britain’s trade demands. That didn’t happen, and it still won’t happen. Every country in the commonwealth, regardless of whether the Queen is head of state or not, will negotiate with Britain on equal footing, if they choose to negotiate new trade agreements at all.
South Africa is no different. The intention behind sending Meghan and Harry is to present a friendly, glamorous image of Britain, to sell the idea of friendly relations with Britain to the public at large, so that there is ample support for a trade agreement from the population. A sort of “greasing the wheels” almost. Of course, now that the truth is exposed, the only thing that’s resulted from this has been more embittered feelings from the people of SA, who rightfully feel that they are being treated like some kind of colonial outpost for the British royal family to pack off their extended relations to.
And this is on top of the already shitty image that Britain has in so many parts of the world, plus the hit their reputation took in the aftermath of Brexit. A lot of us out in the CW are watching them and laughing our heads off, or at least I am. The fact that this massive colonial empire, the height of imperialism at one point, which subjugated so many parts of the world, is ripping itself to shreds over something so fucking stupid, so needless, is astonishing. 800 years of Irish occupation, and all it took was David Cameron calling for a fucking referendum to potentially do what generations of Irish freedom fighters couldn’t accomplish. And the genius remedy to the current deadlock and rancor over the Irish border issue that the British govt had was to send William, Kate and a suitcase full of the ugliest green dresses Kate could conjure up, as a show of good will. Right.
People need to take a much closer look at what the royal family is getting deployed to accomplish around the world. They are not exactly as influential as people claim, but they have done a great deal to neutralize the British reputation and condense it into this weird, cutesy fiction of a quirky, friendly, rainy island, ruled over by a chippy little granny and her 8 corgis, when the ugly reality is, and has been, the terrible racism that is seething beneath that surface.
I agree with @A. The Brits are gonna get slapped so hard when the likes of Pakistan and Nigeria want to trade directly with a trading bloc like the EU instead of the UK. Macron has been courting both these countries actively for the last few years since the referendum ready to the UK’s place in Europe and offering visa’s to Nigerians to study in France. There is now a traditionally English speaking Nigerian community growing in Paris and other major metropolitan cities.
The UK is about to become ‘Murica’s b*tch and 51st state.
The Brits fell for the Rule Britannia propaganda and the irony is that we’re about to become the USA’s slaves contrary to the lyrics of that song. Boris should have asked Trudea about US-Canda relations and trade deals because we’re fukked.
The Chinese also have too many interests in Africa and Asia for the UK to even get an elbow in. The whole world is gonna have the biggest orgasm watching the Brits get fukked.
And to think H&M would have been the perfect envoys for the great continent…. BRF fumbling the bag once again…..
‘There is a very very curious intersection of royalty and politics in this whole debacle with Meghan and Harry, that I hope some enterprising author with actual credentials will take the time to explore.’
Based on what you’ve written, I hope it’ll be you.
@Mignionette you NAILED it! That and 100% more, Brexit was about bringing the ‘Empire’ back but the ‘Empire‘ has moved on. They also don’t realise that Britain has never been on its own, the only reason they were thriving without the EU was because they were subjugating their Commonwealth countries and stealing ALL their wealth and aging free labour, at the height of the ‘Empire’ old colonial countries were bringing in 40%+ of the country’s yearly GDP. This time they don’t have any wealth to steal and it’s about to go straight downhill when the truth hits. The is no such thing as ‘Great’ Britan, it’s a fraud.
All of the excerpts I’m seeing so far seem like tabloid stories slightly spun to make the book seem legitimate (and Lacey’s done a poor job of it). Besides the blatant inaccuracies of some of the claims, this book just reads as another Lady Campbell-type attack on Harry and Meghan.
that’s all it is beach dreams. these are all different approaches to counter the finding freedom book. I won’t spend a penny on any of them.
I agree I wouldn’t take any of the story is told at face value, it’s the lines in between and covert meaning and accidental spellings of the truth one needs to watch, anything they try and sell to you is a lie.
and we would have embraced them happily in South Africa. they have quite a large postive fanbase😁
They have a fan base there because they are listening and talking about issues that are important to the South African people . If H&M were sent there on this ridiculous plan it would be to uphold the status quo, certainly not to talk about “structural racism “ or the injustices of the colonial past. They would have been muzzled, especially Meghan. They wanted her to be the royal version of Candace Owens. No way that would have worked.
The irony is that far from removing the Sussexes from being a thorn in William’s insecure side, sending them on a world tour, where they could charm the entire globe, would have produced precisely the opposite effect. We saw the Cambridges response to the infamous balcony shot from the Sussex tour–imagine that happening continually, on every continent! The truth is that no substantive role for the Sussexes would have kept them hidden enough to soothe William’s massive insecurities.
I will go to my grave saying that moment in Fiji was the Beginning of the End.
Yes, God forbid that people like and embrace this lovely couple!
I agree that seeing that large crowd cheer wildly for Harry and Meghan started the attacks and not much later stories like tiara gate and cry gate showed up. William made a few calls to Wootton or Christian Jones and it went from there.
This is what happens when the junior partner runs the show. Queen and Charles should have cut William out of the talks.
Well, this has been Harry’s life and they are showing us what he put up with to support his grandmother.
In some fairness to William, he is in the direct line of succession. So this is his institution, and he has a share in its existence and future. But it seems like he is not ready to take ownership of that in a way that’s mature and capable of dealing with the various problems that will arise as time goes on.
To me, the petulance makes it seem like William expects everything to be smooth sailing at all times, and isn’t capable of handling bumps on the road as well as would be expected for the heir to the throne. And that’s worrisome. Because if this is an institution that is already struggling to move on and reflect with the times, it would only get worse with someone like William at its helm.
Harry kind of confirmed the Africa story in the documentary, and he alluded to how that idea was pretty colonialist and problematic. No wonder why Diana calls him Good King Harry.
Also if all this talk about how they were upset at Meghan is true..how dumb are they then? Why on earth will you piss off your Enemy? If they were terrified at her wokeness, they literally could just welcome and love the fk out of her. Be the family she never had. She won’t have a reason to burn the institution to the ground. Even till this day she has kept her mouth shut.
Of course it’s too late for that. Meghan will see through it. Also, everyone’s afraid of Meghan when they should be afraid of pissing Harry off.
The only emotional clip we have of Meghan was the one in SA, and even then she kept her answers cool and general (mothers feel this way etc). Harry is the one who grown up yelling at the media, Harry is the one who said those quotes about Diana/Meghan in the documentary, he’s the one who teared up on stage when thinking about his pregnant wife and sick children. HE is the one that would burn it to the ground if he wanted to. And attacking his wife constantly won’t help them.
I think they label Meghan as some kind of radically “woke” woman simply because she’s black. She’s a biracial person who is existing as a biracial person in their world. The fact that she thought it was okay for a white Prince to love her, a black biracial woman, is what is supposedly so radical and woke to them. Interracial couples in 2020=sickeningly liberal and woke, apparently.
Because otherwise, she really wasn’t acting super woke. She’s not a vegan or vegetarian, she didn’t turn Harry vegan. She’s not an eco-warrior “lecturing” about climate change all the time. She didn’t force Harry to stop hunting. She followed all of their rules and traditions: she curtsied, she wore the skirts and dresses and stupid little hats; she sat where they told her to; she walked behind others in processions; she didn’t ever push herself to the front during joint engagements or on the balcony in some kind of feminist and socialist attempt to show that the BRF’s traditions were sexist and classist. She didn’t speak about race or politics much at all as a working royal and the things she’s saying now as a private citizen non working royal who lives on a whole other continent isn’t anything that other royals haven’t said before. There is nothing about her that has never been seen before in one of the various other royals except her skin color. Yet she is “woke” and everyone else is “dutiful” and “traditional.”
It’s just that she’s black. They see the fact that she was allowed to marry into the family as some kind of radical, anti-tradition, futuristic, politically correct concession to “wokeness” on the part of the BRF, and they’ve transferred that feeling and label onto Meghan despite anything she’s said or done, or hasn’t said or done. The fact that she is existing as a POC and a royal at the same time is so foreign and liberal to the British media, that is must be “woke.”
Hear, hear. This comment is exactly what is meant by saying that for a POC in a white space, simply existing there is an inherently political act. No one’s going to look at and see you for who you are, or judge you for what you do. You will be seen and judged according to how the people in power see people who look like you. Nothing that you say or do will really matter–just what they need you to represent. Do a bad job, all XXs are crappy. Do a great job, then all XXs are dangerous because they make the status quo look bad.
They think Meghan is “woke” because they genuinely believe that not being racist, being truthful about the realities of British imperial history, about the existence of structure inequalities, and not spreading blatant falsehoods as fact on the internet, are like, radical positions to take, rather than what decent human beings should do in order to remain decent human beings.
You’re correct.
Even before Harry, Meghan’s political views were so moderate. The only controversial thing I could think of was her calling Trump misogynistic. That’s it! And many Conservative people didn’t vote/won’t be voting for the same reason and then some!
She allegedly made some pro choice remarks during a royal tour. Fine, that’s a slip up on her part as a royal . But even that didn’t become a huge scandal. If you look at the things that garnered controversy, it’s simply because she associates herself with progressive and controversial people. But even other royals (Willie) associates himself with political people as well.
Lacey never answered the question of why the Sussexes ultimately weren’t sent to South Africa, but they DO make it clear that they weren’t involved in the backroom conversations about it. Was it even presented to them as an option? And if so, the optics of this, my God. Unlike some, I believe these leaks were intentionally racist, not a byproduct of unconscious bias. Once the Sussexes decided to play hard ball, the palace gloves were off. My father grew up in East Africa around a lot of British aristocrats, even though we are American. Let me tell you, the British establishment are about as colonialist as you can imagine. This mentality is not even hidden.
“Let’s send the new, black princess to live in Africa”. Christ, how unimaginative.
I think it was a terrible thought to begin with because it displays the backward colonial thinking of the monarchy and they don’t need any more negative press or PR.
And Wills, well I feel sorry for Future England because her FFK is nothing but a megalomaniac who wants what he wants regardless. I really truly hope his heir will be brought up differently. If I were Kate, I would begin to worry about her two younger children and how they may be treated. Maybe when she sees that played out before her she will understand why H&M moved far far away from the toxic castle.
For a Royal Family who likes to refer to themselves as The Firm, they are incompetent managers at best.
They have *so* much wealth and resources. They could easily hire the best and brightest minds.
Instead they stick their heads in the sand and pretend the British Empire still exists and that they are chosen by God.
“They have *so* much wealth and resources. They could easily hire the best and brightest minds.”
So does Donald Trump as POTUS. There is NO accounting for incompetency.
their MO seems to be to make sure no one looks at them too closely. Not a great strategy. It didn’t work for the Romanovs. This is Romanov level incompetence here. William is reminding me of Nicholas 2–completely unsuited for the role, yet stubborn in holding on to power he doesn’t even want. At least the Windsors won’t end the same way, but it’s still sad to think how the Cambridge kids might pay for their parents’ ineptitude
They don’t hire the best and brightest minds, because at that level of aristocracy, everything is pretty much an old boy’s club of the highest order. They hire only from the pool of Old Etonians/Harrovians, who went to Oxbridge, who are descended from all the same stodgy aristocratic families, who all vote Tory, who all inevitably use their position within the royal staff as a spring board from which they leap into govt jobs with the Tory party.
And this lot of people are just not the smartest or the brightest by a long shot, which is remarkable, considering how much money and power they have, and how they often have access to the best education that is on offer in the UK.
The British royals are not running a meritocracy.
That I’m still thinking that chosen by God still makes me lolololol bc Liz truly believes it! 😆😆that would only happen if God was the devil and was writing a comedic joke!
The more DM-excerpts I read from Robert Lacey’s book, the more sceptic I become of the hidden agenda and timing of this book. Who’s interest does he serve? The monarchy’s? Or is he part of a republican conspiracy within the establishment to shut down the House of Windsor after QEII?
I think the quality of the excerpts is disappointing. Lacey’s book is “historic” storytelling at the level of tabloid gossip: the facts in the content are vague, the assumptions are highly subjective and biased (the author’s personal opinion dominates the narrative).
Basically Lacey claims that QEII is too old and clueless, Charles too lost, William too unstable with anger, Harry too dominated by too self confidant Meghan and the staff of courtiers is too incompetent. So the House of Windsor is likely to fall.
What strikes me the most is Lacey’s willingness to sacrifice William. William used to be the right wing’s beacon of hope. Now according to Lacey William’s chances to be King will suffer, if he fails to reconcile with his brother Harry. Is this a change of positive rota press for William?
Maybe the DM-editors have altered the excerpts just to fit their H&M bashing propaganda (because of Meghan’s lawsuit against them). If not Robert Lacey is a C-list royal historian at best!
I don’t think the DM have a particularly strong grip on Lacey. He appears to be a hired pen who operates in his own interests i,e. money.
I think the DM serialized it because it laments the details of the feud which the gammons like. The DM is also the most clicked on news site global (yep you read that right) so it afforded him the greatest reach.
As to whom this greatest suits I’m gonna guess it’s just more garden variety BRF soap opera mess. Meghan cannot be the only villain forever so in a way the DM will assess the reception to see where the cracks lie in public opinion.
Notice that there is a very notable exception to these extracts….. Andrew…… To not mention Andrew would seem to suggest that a lot of legal scrutiny has gone into this book thereby suggesting he has covered his bases as to what he can and can’t say. So whilst a lot of it is crap, the salient points are there.
If anything this books seems to be a tell all by the courtiers whom have either left or been ousted over the last 5 years or so. I think Meghan and Harry were the tip of the iceberg of the unrest behind the Windsor walls….
Yes, suddenly he’s this lauded historian!
I wonder about his motivations too.
Billy reeks of insecurity. The guy felt so threatened even as future king!!! I cant imagine how much more bitter he is now with harry’s global platform. What an idiot. He thankfully unwittingly freed harry from his control(funding, job..) and that “precious” hierarchy. Now Meghan doesnt even have to bow to the keenbridges.
This book is trash and I hope nobody buys it. The guy choose to gamble with his “reputation” in exchange for future access to the palace. I doubt chuck would honor that once the new season of the crown airs.