Throughout August, we were gifted with a series of fake-ass stories about how the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex have completely buried any and all hatchets. “Sources” would not shut up about how Kate and Meghan are “closer than ever” and how they’re talking a lot by “Zoom and FaceTime.” There was even a suggestion that Meghan was desperate to produce a documentary about Kate’s charity work! Yeah, I don’t think anyone was buying it. I had my theories about why those stories were being sold though. As Omid Scobie promotes the paperback edition of Finding Freedom, he was asked about the veracity of all of that reconciliation reporting. Scobie told ET that it’s all one big royal pipe-dream.
“I think it’s wishful thinking when we see people say that Meghan and Kate are going to work on a Netflix project together or they’re talking on the phone,” Scobie tells ET. “I even read a story about how they’re Zooming whilst making cakes or something, quite recently.”
Scobie doesn’t think it’s ill-will between the duchesses, but rather the simple matter of the women following the example of their husbands. “Unfortunately, they follow the lead set by the brothers. The brothers aren’t talking, there really isn’t much communication between either side altogether,” Scobie shares. “Although there was never really a feud between the duchesses, there was some distance. They were never able to get as close as possible.”
As for whether there will ever be a return of the “Fab Four” as the group was previously dubbed, Scobie doesn’t hold out much hope.
“The Fab Four was always destined to fail because neither of them were equals,” he explains, referencing William and Harry’s different rankings within the royal family. “These weren’t four family members all on the same level, carrying out work together. It was kind of a Diana Ross and the Supremes situation.”
Scobie adds that Harry and Meghan had to “contend” with the reality that they were lower in the hierarchy of the Firm, despite wanting to take on more responsibility within the institution prior to their departure.
“They wanted to do just as much as the Cambridges. They wanted to be just as front and center as William and Kate were and, of course, public appetite was there for it, but the institution is very quick to remind you that you are in that position,” he says. “Harry is number six in line to the throne and must always remember that as he carries out that work. It means that he can never overshadow his brother.”
I think Scobie was being a bit funny and shady there, don’t you think? “Harry is number six in line to the throne and must always remember that as he carries out that work. It means that he can never overshadow his brother. [Which Harry was doing.]” Along with this: “…public appetite was there for it, but the institution is very quick to remind you that you are in that position.” Meaning, there was the need from the press and the British public for Harry and Meghan to be popular and high-profile, but it was the institution pushing them down. Along with Will and Kate pushing them down. Anyway, yes, of course Kate and Meghan are not Zooming or plotting a Netflix documentary. The only thing I kind of believe is that Kate probably sent a baby gift. Something with buttons.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
“”Sources” would not shut up about how Kate and Meghan are “closer than ever” I think you mean Kate would not shut up lol
Do you REALLY think that Kate wants anything to do with Harrys´s wife ? Serioulsy ???
She wants the appearance of being the great peacemaker, “see, I talk to Meghan all the time, I’m so inclusive. She totally wants to do a documentary on me because I inspire her and do so much.” It’s a story without action that a “palace source/source close to Cambridges” put out. There’s no teeth in it, just a very shallow appearance. I don’t think Meghan wants much to do with The Other Brother’s wife. There’s no common ground beyond marrying brothers. Meghan seems to have a plan for her life including philanthropy, ambition (ambition is NOT A DIRTY WORD. IT IS A GOOD THING) and branding (NOT A BAD THING) while the other wife seems to look as far into the future as her next coat dress.
I don’t think she wants to have anything to do with anyone who is smarter, driven and more attractive – so, no she probably doesn’t. But then again, she may have seen the positive, global affect of the 40×40 initiative (that was the first thing they tried to tie her into in the past month) and wanted some of that shine herself. Similar to when Phil Dampier gave her credit for Meghan’s incredibly successful project with SmartWorks. I will forever love the #KateMiddletonSuccessStories thread on Twitter.
As the Queen asked William all those years ago: but what does she DO?
&HeatherC Meghan and Catherine do have “common ground “: they serve the crown and they are supposed to use their public image to help further corporate and charitable efforts for the United Kingdom. C couldn’t even manage to keep a straight face at H&M’s wedding; an event that every well-mannered American would be able to fake their way through.
Think about your job: ppl do not like working together but still meet the company initiatives and make joint presentations. M & C got so much attention for attending Wimbledon together, a marketing team’s dream and when the headlines were full of criticism is M, someone should have scheduled back-to-back appearances for the 2 of them. Fight the stories with images of them working together, strength-to-strength, make the BRF appear to be strong and United; leave the reality of the situation to the gossip pages & control the real news.
Instead, the BRF is mirroring the government’s rudderless & leaderless “leaving” the most powerful trading block in the world: just a mess with no one in charge. I mean, we speculate about who is actually running things bc no one is. This is why Harry had the freedom to leave the Commonwealth and say “f-u” to his blood obligations (which I totally support). He figured with no one in charge, he could fight back, create his own global image, be his own man, create something as powerful as the BRF itself, and survive, and he did.
So they had common ground, they all so, and they could still salvage the BRF reputation with the help of H&M, if only the hate didn’t run so deep.
Meghan made it clear, the Wimbledon event was not as it looked to the outside. That was a Kate and Pippa PR trip, not something that was beneficial or enjoyable to Meghan.
Meghan does not share common ground with her racist, abusive sister-in-law who spent four years attacking Meghan in the tabloids with the help of her tacky family. Meghan showed up to work and make the world a better place. Kate groveled and belittled herself for 20 years for status and a title, meangirl and bullying all the way.
p.s. You outed yourself as a Kate stan by referring to her as ‘Catherine’.
They are most certainly NOT in the same league. Meghan did NOT make it her life’s mission to marry and prince., most definitely not. She is brilliant, beautiful and a woman of substance with heart of gold
The only thing they have in common is that they married one of Diana’s sons. Otherwise we have Meghan, a fully actualized adult woman who has had real jobs and is committed to charitable interests, and the other one who did nothing in her life but chase a title and once acquired after a decade or humiliating herself, continues to do little with her privilege and attacks her sister in law due to her own insecurities.
@ElleE-Please explain “strength-to-strength”. I’ll be that a$$hole that asks what Kate’s strengths are? Kate is not a good off the cuff public speaker. Wishing Lilibet , a baby all the best, is very problematic. Giving tools to babies to raise their babies is problematic. Speaking and raising funds for charities in need isn’t Kate’s forte. What are Kate’s strengths? Uhmmm…Meghan & Kate had back to back appearances. 2019-Polo match, where Kate was a b*tch and ignored Meghan & Archie, then Wimbledon a couple of days later. Headlines were Kate consoling Meghan and invited her to royal box (not Pippa being invited to Royal Box-Meghan didn’t need to be invited). Headlines were about Kate and her bullSh&t goodwill. So, please explain Kate’s strengths?
@nota-The use of ‘Catherine’ wasn’t the big tell for me. It was ‘leave the reality of the situation to the gossip pages’. The gossip pages are the invisible contract. An alternate reality, where the truth is false and the lies are true in the minds of the BM. Harry isn’t trying to create something bigger than the BRF. He’s just living a life outside the BRF.
@ElleE, if only the racism & Cambridge’s jealousy didn’t run so deep.
You can’t have a relationship with anybody once there is no trust. Meghan can’t confide in Kate. She knows what will happen if she does. Plus, they have zero in common.
“. It was kind of a Diana Ross and the Supremes situation.”
*wink, wink*Pray tell, who was the Diana Ross in this case?? “nudge, nudge”
lol…gotta love Scobie for the shade. Methinks part of the appeal of the Sussexes for him is to shade others for how little they do, and how out of time they are.
I agree with Omid. The Palace could see that the Sussexes would overshadow the Cambridge’s without trying and so for that reason they were hounded out.
I don’t even think she sent a gift. She would have said so when Andrea Mitchell asked her about Lili during the engagement with Jill Biden. I disagree with Omid saying that Meghan and Kate are following the lead of husbands. It was reported early on that Meghan did try to strike up a friendship with Kate but Kate wasn’t receptive to that so Meghan just gave up on that. Robert Lacey wrote that Kate was wary about Meghan from the start.
@amy bee not to mention the middletons were so jealous of meghan’s popularity from the get go they did not invite her to pippa wedding. harry drove to take her to the reception.
That’s all they will be remembered for. Stepping on others who dare to do better than them. History will not be kind to Billy & Keen.
History will be less that ‘not kind’ to the Cambridges. It won’t mention them at all except as maybe a footnote. Not all kings and queens are remembered, or listed in history as important. They aren’t memorable, and unless he is the last king, he won’t be remembered in history.
NOW there’s a story out, a day later, about how TOBB PERSONALLY got an Afghani collaborator out of Afghanistan. Naturally.
I’d bet my savings account that this was done at the instigation of PR, enquiries, and the like, and THEN Prince Pitiful’s name was attached to it, to overtake the news cycle about Harry/GQ.
“They wanted to do just as much as the Cambridges.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That would mean they wanted to vacation more than they work. Lol. Somehow that’s not how I see Harry and Meghan.
I mean… it’d be really, really hard to do *less* than the Cambridges.
Right? I need a nap just thinking about the absolutely nothing these two characterize as “work”.
I don’t think H & M wanted, or even needed, to be “front and center.” They just wanted and needed to work. They wanted to use their position, their talents, and their place in the royal family to do good. And while everyone wants their work to be recognized and appreciated, I don’t believe that attention-seeking or praise was their primary motivator.
And “do as much as the Cambridges”? Please. They wanted to work. They did, and do, as much as the Cambs just by getting out of bed in the morning.
I don’t know how the institution expected a woman like Meghan, who has worked hard all her life, to kick back her heels and do nothing while waiting for Kate to do anything. Meghan famously said that she was not a “lady who lunches”; she is a woman who likes to work.
It’s so funny how it always comes back to “Harry can never overshadow William”, when Harry overshadows that entire family just by being himself.
He can bloody overshadow them now. I shall never stop enjoying the irony of Will & Kate driving M & H out of the Royal Family so they were not “overshadowed” thereby giving them the freedom to overshadow as much as they like and removing Will’s ability to do anything about it. Hahahahaha.
Lol
@TheHench: this unintended consequence for the BRF is one of the silver linings of this entire saga. They were so convinced that if Harry & Meghan left, they would fail, and they assumed that everyone else held that view as well. Which is why they never seemed to consider the fact that if they did NOT fail, it would be the overshadowing to overshadow all past overshadowing, lol. Permanent, epic overshadowing. Which would be so, soooooo much worse for the RF if the Sussexes were completely free of all palace oversight.
Besides, no matter where the Sussexes are, there is always going to be more public interest in them BECAUSE THEY ARE ACTUALLY INTERESTING. These people don’t understand that just because the Cambridges rank “higher up” in the family’s hierarchy, that absolutely, positively does *not* translate into William and Kate automatically being more popular.
In trying to “punish” Harry and Meghan by cutting them loose and rejecting the half-in plan, they accomplished exactly the opposite. And I for one am enjoying the fallout immensely : )
It’s honestly the best part of this. The arrogance of wanting to punish and exile them so that the Cambridges could be more famous only created a situation where the US and global media will be able to focus on Harry and Meghan over the other two because they are more interesting and they aren’t beholden to the stupid British rank nonsense.
@Lorelei – “the overshadowing to overshadow all past overshadowing” Lol indeed!
And yes, you’re right – it is because they are so entrenched in their hierarchy that they CANNOT see that the public do not give a f***. To those on the outside, all boats rise on a hide tide – or at least they would have done if K&W hadn’t deliberately holed HMS Meghan&Harry below the waterline.
LOL! Well said.
I think what he should have said was that Harry can never be allowed to overshadow William. No one was ever allowed to overshadow the King/Queen or the heir apparent.
That has always been how things were done but times have changed and that don’t work anymore. They no longer control the narrative and have not learnt to adapt.
Harry will always overshadow PWT because of his genuine love of and interest in people. Their mother was right, Harry would have made a better King. But PWT was born first and here we are.
The Royals were happy to let Harry overshadow Wills, then Wills & Kate, when he was single. They sent Harry abroad and reported on it and all was good. Then when it was Harry & Meghan, they still sent them abroad and they both did great but then, uh, someone got triggered and now Harry and Meghan needed to learn their place.
Am i the only one who doesn’t get this hierarchy argument? Yes harry is 6th in line and william is 2nd but since they want to profile themselves as a firm, lets look at this from a firm perspective shall we? Royal family inc. has one CEO: the queen. William kate harry and meghan all hed the exact same position within that firm. Kate’s tasks weren’t different from meghans williams tasks weren’t different from harry’s. So, if we go by that they should be treated equally within that firm.
Also, scobie is way of mark here. Meghan and harry weren’t desperate to be more in the forefront like william and kate. They simply were because they are more interesting. That is not their fault.
You’re not wrong, but there are plenty of British people who don’t understand the Royal family.
I am not american and you just said the same i thing i did. Yes meghan and harry were never supposed to be in the lead roles but neither are william and kate. Again, the company has one CEO: the queen. Everybody else is there to support HER. H&m were in the exact same position as W&K and would remain so until the queen dies and W&K become prince and princess of Wales and thus get a “promotion” but until then the 2 couples should have been treated equally.
@Pao: As an institution, I would think that all good works would benefit the Royal Family and the Queen herself. But the family and courtiers are very myopic in their thinking and only see it as the higher ranked people being overshadowed. It’s why the family turned against Diana. She was getting more attention than Charles and the Queen.
The Royal family has a shed ton of problems, none of them helped by the fact that their rigidly hierarchical world view which has them bowing/curtseying/scraping/scrapping even with each other in the same room, is not shared by ANYONE outside the royal circle. Most of all, it is not shared by the majority of the taxpayers they need to keep paying for their exorbitant lifestyle.
And whilst they obsess amongst themselves with who has the best media coverage or largest house or Granny’s ear, they haven’t noticed that they have formed a circular firing squad and are blasting bits off each other to nobody’s advantage. Again: hahahaha.
If you look at it from the perspective of being a company with the supposed job of bringing attention to causes or promoting tourism in the UK, getting rid of workers who were accomplishing the task (wherever they are in line) doesn’t make sense.
I mean, I grew up Jewish and didn’t have a problem understanding it, so, yeah, lol.
My point is lots of people don’t get the British royal family and Americans/non-British people aren’t the only ones, plenty of British people don’t. I had one Londoner try to tell me that Harry and Meghan weren’t doing what was acceptable because the only type of philanthropy the royals do is showing up at daycares and this person just stared at me blankly when I told them about the existence of The Prince’s Trust (not that I don’t have issues with that but it sure isn’t just a bread and butter engagement) and Princess Anne’s work with Save the Children. But of course they think that, the most prominent articles about royalty these days are the Cambridges and showing up for a half-hour is all they ever do for anything.
The Royals think popularity should be commensurate with rank, that’s all that was happening here. It’s happened before and will continue as long as the institution exists. Logically, they SHOULD all be equal in serving the Queen, but they aren’t smart, lol.
@Pao – Yes, the Queen is the “CEO”, but everyone else is ranked according to their distance from the Queen, meaning where they are in line to inherit the throne. So, Harry and Meghan could never be on the same level as Will and Kate – they’re not even on the same level as W&K’s children. It’s just the accident of birth that makes William “superior,” but that’s how the monarchy works.
@eurydice. Im not saying that i don’t understand how the monarchy works. I do. What im saying is that i don’t understand how anyone can use “hierarchy” as a good argument for how harry and meghan were treated since technically h&m and w&k had the same job and same job description. That is until the queen dies. In any actual firm these 2 couples would have been treated equally so the hierarchy argument isn’t a good one.
Harry always overshadowed W&K and everyone else before Meghan. He’s been the most popular royal behind the queen for years and at times he was even more popular than her majesty. In a poll a few months ago in the rags, Harry still beat out William for who should be king. Harry was allowed to overshadow them all, not that he had a choice he’s just more interesting, and it wasn’t that much of a problem before. Will was pissy and tried to kneecap Harry but it didn’t put a dent the perception of Harry one bit. Meg coming along is what changed everything because the firm wanted to use his shine for themselves. Hell, all of the royals are acting like jilted lovers, not just rota.
@Pao – I don’t think that anyone is using hierarchy as a legitimate reason to have treated Harry and Meghan badly. It’s an excuse, as in “she didn’t know her place.” But the monarchy isn’t an actual firm, even though they call it “The Firm.” And W&K don’t have the same “job” as H&M. H&M were always subordinate, like Jr VP’s to Sr VP’s, if you want to use a corporate analogy. William could say “I won’t go here and I won’t do that”, hand over the job to Harry and then Harry would have to do it. But that still doesn’t mean H&M should have been treated badly.
William has stepped on his father and grandmother’s popularity more than once though. If this was just Harry outshining everyone that is one thing, but William has not followed his own rank much either, especially as he should be deferring to his father and grandmother, but he does not do that. Having his own comms team is just a part of that.
@simone I never saw it this way, but now looking at it through this lens, it must have stung more in some ways than Oprah. It made everything that happened after inevitable. And it explains Williams insane behavior and rage. Birthright was always flawed. Americans will never understand why this continues.
I’m American and understand @pao’s point. TQ is the hierarchy. When TQ invited Meghan on the first solo trip with her on the Royal Train (which Will, Kate and Harry had not done yet) a month after marrying in, wasn’t TQ kind of defying the birth order and rank system. My understanding is that the Royal Train thing is a big deal. Meghan had a solo trip with the Queen before Kate. I’m sure that went over well with some people.
That’s a false argument. William and Harry do not have the same job, no matter how much pretzel twisting you want to do. William is the heir to the heir, Harry is not. That fact defines their position in the firm.
For an institution that prides itself for being around for as long as it has, it never fails to make me laugh at how they handled the Sussexes’ popularity.
The line of succession is not a popularity contest. William will be king as long as there’s a throne to sit on. There’s not going to be an election after Charles dies going “Vote for either William or Harry as your next King!”. It doesn’t matter how popular H&M would have been, as long as W&K didn’t become deeply unpopular, the majority of the public weren’t going to go “Harry and Meghan for King and Queen!”
Plus popularity doesn’t last forever. In 10 or so years time when the Cambridge kids are teenagers, the press would have shifted focus on them as they would be the “young glamorous royals” so the press spotlight on H&M would have reduced anyways. 10 years is not long to wait, just ask Kate.
Edit: and I maintain that the BRF should never have overindulged and been too soft on the Cambridges. Should have had them do the “bread and butter” engagements early on so that they could build interests and a work ethic and then move into the projects. Perhaps if W&K had a few projects by the time Meghan married in, the jealousy and claims of overshadowing would have been greatly reduced.
The last point your making is a solid one. The reason why harry became so popular is because he was doing the ground work( going on tours and such) while william and kate were nowhere to be seen. It allowed for the public to get used to harry, while william and kate were largely invisible.
I’ve said this before but the RF (particularly Charles and the Queen) are reaping the harvest they sowed when they babied William after the death of his mother. They absolutely should have got hold of both Cambridges and put their nose to the (very gentle) royal grindstone years ago. Instead they were allowed to amble about playing housewife/Olympic shopper and helicopter pilot with many tales about finding their feet and not wanting to make the same mistakes as made with Diana. And here we are.
I agree that William was babied, but he got married in 2011 and his Mum died in 1997. There was absolutely no reason for William to not be doing way more Royal work at age 29, 14 years after her death. Harry was already doing more of that once he was forced to leave the army. William only ever did his service in Wales and he could have easily added a lot more engagements during that time, even if closer to the base. And it didn’t help that Kate was just as lazy and she didn’t have any reason to do so little, especially prior to the children. Both frittered away the goodwill they had at the wedding and now they are reaping the products of their utter laziness.
They didn’t baby William, they’re afraid of him and his whiplash temper. They never know which stunt or fit William will pitch next, like tripping off to Wales or signing up for EAAA without telling them first. When they try to force him to do something, like the Cambridge course, he still manages to much it up, use it as an excuse to get out of royal work, and still never finish the course.
Just so. If William and Kate had lifted a finger, it might have been different for them, but they insisted on making Harry (and consequently Meghan) do all the work, and then were mad that the Sussexes were good at working, and charismatic besides. Charismatic Harry is acceptable on his own, so Kate would have someone to pant after, but not as part of the Sussex team, where his wife proved to be every bit as charismatic, if not more–a no-no for the Duchess of Waityness, who cannot withstand comparisons.
@merricat: and this is why i get annoyed when people only point at william when we talk about the abuse h&m faced. Because im pretty sure kate had a huge part in it too. Harry has always overshadowed his brother. It was never an issue (at least not publicly) until mrs Keen got overshadowed by harry’s wife.
Ironically, given the media like to keep comparing M&H to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, it’s Kate and William who draw the most parallels. They are the outliers in that family when everyone else (ex Andrew) is sallying out and doing their ribbon-cutting charity thang. K&W are the lazy, indulged, spoiled ones who focus on furnishing their existence with as much luxury and privilege as possible whilst barely doing anything for it.
Pao, Kate is absolutely culpable. I have no sympathy for her whatsoever.
The Hench, the Cambridges are so spoiled, they really thought that instead of working, all they had to do was get rid of the competition– as if all it takes for people to love them is to be left without the choice of the Sussexes.
@Merricat: “the Cambridges are so spoiled, they really thought that instead of working, all they had to do was get rid of the competition– as if all it takes for people to love them is to be left without the choice of the Sussexes.”
^^^^ So true! THAT is what at the root of all of this, what drove the Cambridges to the level of desperation and cruelty that we saw in them re: Meghan.
And now they’re learning the hard way that their line of thinking, upon reflection, was completely off the mark. Welp! They dug their own graves.
Kate was always going to hate Meghan because Meghan is younger looking, despite being the same age, smarter, more eloquent, more experienced in life in general and has captured the attention of the media in a way that Kate never could. She most importantly has a husband who respects her and Meghan’s presence cut off Kate’s little game of trying to get Harry’s attention in public settings to pretend that all men want her. When Meghan is in the room, men want her and ignore Kate, who is not sexy and has no appeal with the schoolmarm looks.
Kate has always hated women who were competition for the attention of men and Meghan hit all the points without actually trying. Her bitch move early on not giving her a ride shopping was the most obvious sign that she was never going to be nice to Meghan.
What turned on Kate is that outside of the bubble, men and women prefer someone like Meghan, who is independent, has opinions and she earned a living. Women can relate Meghan much more than they ever could to Kate because most women, even rich ones, have had jobs prior to marriage and they didn’t spend a decade of their life chasing a rich man for a ring. Many tolerated Kate prior to Meghan because there was no other option, but Kate’s jealousy was a huge mistake and now she’s turned a large portion of women against her. She’s shown her true face (which to be fair some of us at CB have been pointing out for years before Meghan even arrived) and outside of the racist Karens, you can’t support a woman who sandbagged her own sister in law in the media and still remains silent to this day despite suicidal ideation. It’s beyond being a bitch at this point. Kate is a cruel and despicable person to remain silent at this point and you can never repair that relationship.
(I also think this is one sided. I don’t think Meghan spends much time thinking of Kate as much as Kate does about her. Meghan will be civil and polite though despite the huge betrayal)
I agree with all of you. Having Harry doing all of the work representing the firm only made him more popular and made him the face of the monarchy, which I honestly believ was the plan all along. Everyone seemed to know then and now that William ain’t sh*t and Harry was the plan b. I’ve said this before, but I think they wanted Harry to be king in all but name only, so Willy can go be country gentleman and come around for the king events or something, while Harry doing the work of being the global statesman etc. Harry being dutiful gave the RF a false sense of security, thinking that he would always be able to carry the load and now they are stuck. Nobody would still be wailing about Harry leaving if they knew old Bill was prepared to be king. They are in crisis because they coddled William and accidentally gave all of the king training to Harry.
William’s mistreatment of Harry was always there, and Harry quietly worked to build his own portfolio away from William. Out of William’s control. Sentebale, founded outside of royal work with Prince Seeiso, William not allowed to be part of it. Invictus Games, founded outside of royal work. William not allowed to be part of it. Harry knows his brother, that’s why he’s been building a future separate from that brother since he was 19.
Kaiser, I agree it could be Omid throwing some shade, but the thing is that it’s too subtle for most people (“people” meaning Camb stans, hardcore royalists who will defend the “hierarchy” no matter what, and garden-variety racist Meghan haters) to realize that. So they’ll be taking his comments literally and braying about what attention whores the Sussexes are.
Twitter is going to be quite the sh!tshow today!
This is why I get annoyed with the British subtleties. Just say what you’re going to say and stop putting every single thing in code. Damn. Maybe that makes me a crass American but it is so tedious to have to read between the lines all the time and you end up not getting your point across. It also leads to too many ways for your words to be interpreted. If you want to say that the Cambridges are thin skinned and couldn’t handle being overshadowed by H&M, just say it. My goodness. I’ll take the tacky American directness any day over the British reading between the lines. Apologies if this offends anyone.
LMAO. Harry and Meghan didn’t try to overshadow the Keenbridges, they just did more than the absolute bare minimum and have more charisma than a wet paper towel, which made them more interesting from the start.
And no way did Kate ever try to be friends with Meghan. She wouldn’t even give her a lift to the grocery store.
And only a fool would have believed they were Zooming some kind of bake-off. That story was put out by a fool and her minions (hi, Carole).
Majority of people didn’t believe the narrative the palace was putting out about Kate & Meghan. We have eyes. I also don’t doubt Kate followed William’s lead in the beginning, but a lot of her interactions with Meghan were formed by her own bias and jealousy. No one, especially not a Black American, was going to overshadow her. They also have nothing in common beyond their martial status and motherhood, two things which occurred years after their initial meeting.
Kate doesn’t have girlfriends; it’s too threatening for her, mostly because she has no substance, just surface. And as we all know, surface has a shelf-life.
A Catus could over shadow will and Katie keenbridges. I think all Harry and Meghan wanted was to make an impact with their work and help where they could. Will , Kate and the rest of the monarchy got all petty and jealous and mean because they future king and queen just fall flat regardless of all the propping up and puff pieces they receive
Also, it’s not because of Harry and william having problems that Kate and Meghan aren’t close, it’s because Kate is a Karen. She lets lies sit in the media for months about white woman tears and makes sure unflattering things about her in tattler are walked back but stories making Meghan look like a difficult, demanding,deranged duchess can stay out there. This is why Meghan wants nothing to do with Kate , the duchess of karens
So true. We really should just re-christen her Karen Middleton and have done with it.
Kate was always going to be jealous of Meghan because anyone who takes male attention away from her is a threat. They went on and on about how she pushed women away from William since uni, and pretended those stories were cute and showed loyalty. What it instead did show was a competitive and insecure woman and she’s never changed.
And let’s not forget the recent Lacey excerpt which said Kate was “always wary” of Meghan. I mean yeah we know because it was obvious. The Wimbledon visits were not a kindness and even there she tried to lord her rank over Meghan, despite Meghan actually being friends with Serena.
And this is exactly why Kate wore white to Meghan wedding. She believed she should have been the bride because in her eyes Harry was hers, she mistook his kindness towards her as some kind of signal that he wanted her, Kate believes what Karen wants, Karen should get.
Imagine British GQ reaching overseas to a non working member of the BRF to present the award of the night, when they have Royals and their spares in England.
And no they didn’t asked them, because the editor said we needed someone special to present this award, then went on to say they missed and love him, drop the mike! So all you guys that are swallowing the latest polls about Harry’s rating, this was a live audience reacting to Zooming Harry.
He is quick on his feet, explaining the reasons he was wearing a Tuxedo at 3pm, maybe he was wearing from the night before.
By normal everyday standards, Harry and Meghan weren’t doing a lot of work. But the work that they were allowed to do was getting more attention than those higher ranked than them. And were it up to them, Harry and Meghan would have liked to do more but Palace wouldn’t let them because either they had to wait for William and Kate to do something or there were fears that Harry and Meghan would overshadow the Cambridges.
@AmyBee and it’s not the Sussexes fault that neither William nor Kate have so much as one creative bone in their bodies. They never would have thought to do fundraisers like the cookbook or the SmartWorks initiative. They just don’t think that way— they get out of their car, wander around pretending to look interested for a half an hour, then peace out, knowing there will be photos of their engagement published the next day, so in their minds, mission accomplished.
They were shook when the world saw how much more royals can do. It threatened their entire lifestyle and approach to “work.”
@Lorelei: I agree they saw Meghan’s work ethic as a threat. I believe Harry has the same work ethic but because he was in the Army for the start of the Cambridges marriage it meant that he was not overshadowing them when it came to work. He wasn’t there. The projects he did do had to involve Kate and William. The separation of work only started when Harry left the Army which was only a year before he met Meghan.
There was always talk regarding the Cambridges’ poor work ethic. The general consensus being that they were neither use not ornament. Harry’s marriage changed all that. I won’t ask why (ahem). Here some coverage of some coverage from 2016 (although the original article mentioned therein appears to have been scrubbed ); https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/feb/18/the-sun-gives-both-barrels-to-prince-william
That’s a great article! Thanks for posting it. I remember reading it way back when it was published, but it’s nice to see a reminder.
Harry was attacked for his recent remarks about William being “trapped” in his role, but this columnist says basically the exact same thing. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that William resents his position.
Well it’s clear some things never change. Five years on and Willy & Waity Workshy are still proving that point. Instead of stepping up to the plate with H&M they allowed their cupidity and jealousy to take over while the whole world watched. I think it’s the beginning of the end for the monarchy, it simply can’t continue as is with a couple of lazy toffs leading the pack once Betty pops off.
The Cambridge poor work ethic never changed. They just got protected by the media once Meghan arrived because she was a more profitable target for them. Even looking at their engagement numbers since 2016 and we don’t see much of an increase, even prior to the pandemic. William got around 200 one year and Kate got close to 150 once and that’s with all the meetings with Jason being counted.
Looking back those meetings with Jason likely were productive but they were planning sessions as to how to attack Meghan.
So interesting. And they’re not just saying that Will was lazy, but he was also a liability when he actually did go out in public – so, that hasn’t changed, either.
So fun to read that old story about the odious Jason Knauf, who later bullied Meghan whilst accusing her of bullying.
We learn that in August (2015) a reporter for the Independent “picked up on the implications of an open letter to the media written by the prince’s communications secretary, Jason Knauf, in which he complained about paparazzi hiding in car boots and using children as “bait” in order to take pictures of Prince George.”
The story points out that it’s legal to take photos of people in public places, royal or not, despite what Knauf said. And it doesn’t sound like any photos even emerged. Will also wanted to control shots of Kate who, last time we looked, wasn’t a child.
i resent the redundant, rota claim about harry and meghan allegedly struggling with being lower in the royal hierarchy.
it’s such bullshit.
i believe they always had big ideas and wanted to do more (and no, not “as much as william and kate” lol, ’cause those two do fuck all), but they were absolutely constantly smacked down by the firm. they were routinely undermined in the palace because they would certainly have overshadowed the rest of the royals even more had they been left to just do their thing.
think about it: if the other royals were, in fact, interesting and/or hard-working, and not at all insecure, then they wouldn’t have been so worried about whatever harry and meghan were doing.
then and now, harry and meghan have never had to work so hard for the limelight. the attention (obsession?) is something they never asked for, but it follows them everywhere all the same.
what’s actually happening here is the other royals are the ones who struggle with being 2nd and 3rd fiddles to the sussex main act. the royals are mad resentful because they are entitled and feel that they should be getting all the attention and praise while doing next to nothing. sorry friends, the modern world doesn’t work like that.
the ironic and funny thing is we see the firm’s nervousness about harry and meghan play out all the more clearly with them now out of the palace. even an ocean away and with no palace protection, they are doing amazing things, they’re extremely popular with influential world leaders and with the demographics that actually matter, and they continue to rattle and overshadow the other royals.
see: the meltdown they and their rota friends get whenever the sussexes do or say something: every initiative, every project, every statement, every hollywood connection, every private jet, every bathroom – it must all be mercilessly dissected and mocked because *they* are the ones constantly overshadowed by harry and meghan. everything harry and meghan do now, whether they intend it or not, really reflects badly on the royals (for example, if harry and meghan can put a statement voicing their empathy with the people of afghanistan and haiti, what’s stopping the other royals from coming out of one of their 5 or 6 homes and doing something?) they always mock harry and meghan for their efforts, then they just copy them and follow their lead 2 weeks later.
like, ???.
will and kate may have won the traditional hierarchy of being born/married to the first in line, but the people on misery island know for a fact that the moment has missed them and it’s NEVER coming back.
if harry and meghan are so unimportant, then why spend so much time and effort obsessing over them?
+1
@Simone . Funny why it was Prince Harry who was invited as special guest to the GQ event and not his brother William who’s the FFK. This only proves that there is almost no demand for The Other Brother even if he’s FFK. His title and position didn’t mean anything. I think this is one of those reasons why they feel overlooked and needed to move to Windsor to up their “visibility.” As if it would’ve made any difference. The Cambridges are still second fiddle to the Sussexes. Really.
If the Cambridges want more visibility it is well within their power to get it. All they have to do is work.
@mac Not to mention they could give a speech with an opinion or even a sound bite worth a damn. The only thing I can remember either saying is Willileaks’ “very much not a racist family.” Ok ok, I also remember him calling his mother paranoid.
They rather pay for Harry to appear (you know, as part of his speaking gigs) than to have baldy to appear free as a working royal.
I believe that when Kate does anything to Meghan which makes her look bad, snubbing at Commonwealth memorial and having to admit to the American press Kate hadn’t contacted Meghan after the birth of Lilibet, the UK press begin to print stories that make it look like Kate and Meghan are talking to each other.
Every time. Kate doesn’t want to be outed as the mean girl that she is. Kate is known to hate other women and to not have any friends.
Just amazing that anyone would believe that William’s school-aged kids being higher in the line of succession that Harry means he and Meghan should be less visible or do less work.
Especially given that Princess Anne is officially 16th in line!
No, this is all about the insecurity and jealousy of William and Kate, because Harry and Meghan are simply more charismatic and better at ‘the job’ than them.
So glad you made this point KT. Most years Anne tops the list of royals with the most engagements & has been praised for years for being the hardest working royal without an issue- making Omid’s& similar takes on working more& hierarchy so disingenuous.
William & Kate are treated with way more deference than Charles& Camilla by the press & have overshadowed them & even the queen for years. the press often promote Kate as the jewel in the crown etc above her husband the heir. Where are the hierachy screamers then. Where were they when Harry set up the Invictus games when William didn’t have his own initiatives at that point & when he was doing the monarchy charming tours in the Caribbean etc?
Harry also got more attention & was more popular then William for years. I think spotlight only became an issue for William & Kate was that Harry AND his wife were getting crazy attention they felt entitled to despite shying away from it for years. The daily beast called it at the time of the tour.
Also if Harry & Meghan wanted to be front & centre surely they would have worked with the rota for favourable press and would have stayed in KP rather than quieter Windsor. After marriage they were rarely seen outside of royal engagements. I think they just wanted to do good work & Meghan apparently mistakenly thought the royal platform was to help in practical ways like the Together cookbook. but that threatened William& Kate who didn’t have many initiatives to their names at that point
I’ve always found it weird when the press calls William “the future king.” That would be Charles–and, even then, only after the Queen dies. What is the rush? If I were Charles, I would cringe at William’s endless self-promotion.
Isn’t it mostly KATE’s wishful thinking for constant Zooms??? LOL H&M peace-outed those holdovers from the dark ages 🤣🤣
“…public appetite was there for it, but the institution is very quick to remind you that you are in that position.”
Just more proof that Omid has no insider information, he’s simply an RR who writes a more convincing set of fan fiction. As many point out on here, Anne does more engagements some years than Charles, but the courtiers don’t batter back her work schedule.
Any of us could write what Omid has, in fact, many of us could write it better.
Maybe we could. Thing is though, when his book came out last year, it was pretty much the only significant thing talking positively, or at least more even-handedly, about the Sussexes in a sea of otherwise almost universal hate being generated towards the Sussexes, especially Meghan. It made them seem like real people, not the caricatures promulgated by the media, etc. Reasonable people were ready to hear a different point of view, which IMO is why FF sold so well. I assume this issue one year later in a paperback version is a typical publishing routine set up in the initial contract. Makes sense they’d try and add an epilogue, especially as it covers the period since H&M left last March, when a lot has happened.
As far as whether Omid has inside information, it’s not clear to me that he’s made that claim; seems to me it’s at least partially been put on him by other, jealous RR, etc. as a way to discount what he says – “oh, he’s just the Sussex mouthpiece, blah blah.”
But one thing Omid has that others don’t is – H&M’s office will respond to him, something they won’t do for anyone working for the tabloids, and probably others as well.
I personally like Omid. He has flaws, but I like his positive attitude toward the Sussexes, that he reports on what they’re doing, while still providing coverage for things done by other RF members. Seems to me that’s why he has a higher profile when it comes to a network or publication looking for a quote (plus he’s already connected to US media via Harper’s).
I may be stretching here, but it kind of sounds to me like a “see? Kate’s not racist she talks to Meghan,” but what REALLY grinds my gears here is the narrative of Meghan seeing Kate as some sort of philanthropic powerhouse worthy of a documentary. I cannot articulate in a great way why this strikes me as a racist notion, but it’s like affirming the power imbalance while using the old friend justification.
It does have the feel of selling the idea that Kate isn’t a racist along with she not not being an active participant in the smear campaign and false bullying allegations against Meghan. And brushing aside the fact that the headlines should have been Kate Made Meghan CRY.
The idea of Meghan (or anyone) wanting to do a documentary on Kate’s charity/philanthropic “work” is a joke at best. Unless, it was about how to be an ineffective royal patron and still be praised by the British Media/royal experts when your patronages close. Brink Cafe, Art Room, offices of EACH. Then have a “royal expert” write about how much money a royal foundation received from their own American royal foundation from ‘recently published documents’ but fails to link to said recently published documents. But, yet, these patronages that are so important to Kate are closing offices/closed due to lack of funding. Yea, she’s a big help, and oh so worthy of a documentary that Meghan wants to be part of.LOL Until, the “bullying” report comes out, Meghan is not speaking with Kate. CB lawyers..I might be wrong, but isn’t that usually the case.
From things I’ve read, Archewell and SussexSquad have raised more $$$$$$ for charities in need, that directly went to the charities than anything Kate/William have done.
Harry and Meghan just wanted to do the work, make a difference, and go home to a peaceful life, just like they are doing now that they are free.
I can’t imagine having to dim my shine because my in-laws, that have had an immense amount of privilege wouldn’t work. William and Kate have people at their disposal to navigate how to be royal. They can set up teams to increase their impact. They can be taught how to act, increase their like ability, but they would rather engage in a smear campaign, and shots themselves in the foot because pushing Harry and Meghan out made them more interesting.
In the meantime, Harry and Meghan have moved on. The British monarchy is in total disarray, and it’s all because the antiquated leadership allowed a dastardly media Murdoch to take the reign. The rumor mill is on fire, and nothing they throw at the Sussexes sticks. The media has spent the past five years comparing the two women, and other than being in the same age group and married to brothers, there are no similarities. It will take time for them even to begin to rebuild the relationship they had least yet strengthen.
I like the shade Diana Ross and the Supremes. Diana gained fame but lost love and respect.