Brian Cox is a socialist, a republican, a Scottish independence proponent, activist and an actor. In interviews, he’s never shied away from sharing his political opinions or his opinions on how the British monarchy should end. He thinks Scotland should be independent and that the Windsors should be put on an ice floe and set adrift in the Atlantic. I’m surprised he even has opinions about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the two people who left the sh-tshow and are now making their own money and paying taxes. But here we are. Cox was recently interviewed in Haute Living New York to promote Succession, and he had some sh-t to say about the Sussexes.
Actor Brian Cox claims Meghan Markle ‘knew what she was getting into’ when she married into the Royal Family as he repeats his call for the monarchy to be abolished. The Succession star, 76, criticised the Duchess for entering the family with an expectation that she and Prince Harry could ‘cut themselves off’ from the established ‘system’.
Mr Cox, speaking with Haute Living New York, accused Meghan of having ‘ambitions’ to join the family and alleged she may have had childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming. Furthermore, the actor, who has previously pushed for abolition of the monarchy, reiterated that the traditional entity is ‘not viable’ and ‘doesn’t make any sense’.
Mr Cox, addressing the ongoing controversies surrounding Megxit, claimed that while people think there’s an ‘innocence’ about the Sussexes, he believes Meghan was fully aware that she was inserting herself into a longstanding system.
‘You can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off,’ he told the outlet. ‘I mean, she knew what she was getting into.’
The Emmy-award winner also claimed that Meghan ‘clearly’ had an ‘ambition’ when she married Harry.
‘The childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that s**t we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams,’ he argued, calling himself a ‘Cinderella person.’
Despite him criticising Meghan for seeming disrupting the royal system, Mr Cox added: ‘In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy. It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense.’
He said that although royalists would say the system is a ‘tradition,’ his thoughts are ‘f**k it, move on.’
I’ve been looking for the full interview but it doesn’t look like it’s been released online quite yet. My guess is that Haute Living sent out some excerpted quotes and the Mail cherry-picked the “worst” ones for the Sussexes. For what it’s worth, I bet in the full context, Cox is being much more critical of the monarchy than the Sussexes. Just a few months ago, he indicated that he believed that the Windsors treated Harry and Meghan poorly and “something clearly traumatic went on for the pair of them.I don’t think they made it up, I don’t think it’s false. I think it’s true and should’ve been rectified, and it hasn’t.” Now, can he say that and also suggest that Meghan had a princess fantasy? Sure. Because I think it’s true – Meghan did have a princess fantasy, or more like “wow, I can use the royal platform to do amazing work like Harry’s mother.” And then it all came crashing down.
Cover courtesy of Haute Living, additional photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Actor Brian Cox attends the Edinburgh TV festival in in the Edinburgh International Conference Center.,Image: 718300915, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: FEE PAYBLE ON USAGE, Model Release: no, Credit line: Euan Cherry / Avalon
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- Fremantle Unveils International Talent Line Up For MIPCOM 2022. Brian Cox attends the red carpet at Fremantle’s exclusive party at MIPCOM 2022. The Fremantle Photocall as part of the MIPCOM 2022 on October 17, 2022 in Cannes, France.,Image: 731415782, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
his opinion is no more meaningful or insightful or educated that the average person on the street. how weird that he seems obsessed about the prince-charming fantasy. is he bitter that he wasn’t a prince to someone? weird.
Or a princess. 🤫
“……….. Because I think it’s true – Meghan did have a princess fantasy, or more like “wow, I can use the royal platform to do amazing work like Harry’s mother.” And then it all came crashing down.”
This is so f*cking schizophrenic. But this is how most critics of Princess Meghan have to twist themselves into pretzels in order to believe that they sound coherent to the rest of us.
Meghan did not have a [Disney] princess fantasy (disney being what most folks conjure when they think ‘princess fantasy.) In fact her “princess fantasy” such as it was, tended toward activist/warrior princesses. [see her blog, which the arseholes in britshidtmedia were running with a couple weeks ago]
What Meghan indeed believed was that the BRF platform was a huge, global one, where she would be able to scale up and amplify the work she was ALREADY DOING and which, combined with the work Prince Harry was ALREADY DOING, they could really make a positive, impactful change in people’s lives.
Thats it. Thats all.
But because the agenda-driven arseholes who criticise M in particular, do so based on their own venality, they cannot fathom this phenomenal woman.
Thats it and Thats all.
Kingston
Exactly. That’s how it all appears to me too.
Kingston – ITA, especially when you discriminate between disney princess and Meghan mindset: “In fact her “princess fantasy” such as it was, tended toward activist/warrior princesses. [see her blog…” If anything proves Meghan did NOT know what she was getting into, it’s her belief the monarchy was a force for good since the principals figured out they needed to be doing something with charity in order to further ingratiate themselves with people to stay in power.
💯 Agree with this assessment. If anything, her fantasy was that as the ceremonial branch of the UK government, her position as a royal would be to highlight and support causes, and actually work toward effective change with these civic organizations. Nope. They don’t really do anything close to that apart from mostly just appearing and trying to justify the public expenditure. Overall, every celebrity is now being asked about Harry and Meghan as though it’s of some gauge or litmus test. Cox is trying to drum up interest in Brian Cox. Now he has more attention.
Sighing a breath of relief I don’t have to write any of this because you put it so perfectly. Thank you!
I agree with you but then how could they, and particularly Meghan turn around and say she was unaware the racism she would face in the BRF & the BM? It’s unbelievable.
I’m just not a fan of someone saying “she knew what she was getting into” bc it’s very blame the victim. A lot of this was unquoted summaries but that part was in quotes.
A lot of the people who are saying that are people from the UK, who themselves knew very well what Meghan was getting into (John Oliver comes to mind). Undoubtedly, Meghan was optimistic that the institution had modernized somewhat and she, after seeing what Harry had done, could use it for good. And don’t forget Harry was excited for his family to meet her and vice versa. He spoke glowingly about how she would be perfect for the role and could have a real family through his, so he fully believed, and in turn, made her believe, that it would be great. If Harry didn’t know, then there’s no way Meghan should’ve known.
MTE, she’s American! People who were born and raised outside of the UK truly do not have a full understanding of that stupid antiquated institution and they never will because we were not born and raised with it. We heard about the big stories of course but we don’t have holidays revolving around it, our money isn’t stamped with their faces, we don’t gather around the tv to listen to a speech at Christmas, we don’t have palaces in the middle of our largest cities, etc. It is woven into the fabric of everyday life in the UK and they don’t know any different and probably don’t even realize how much it is a part of them or how people outside of the UK honestly don’t get it or even care. When the Queen died so many of us could not understand how people were literally mourning her like she was a family member or how cult like it was and almost like Stockholm syndrome. I understand that when you are born and raised in a culture it’s hard to put yourself outside of that mindset and in other peoples shoes but these Brits really need to get some empathy and large dose of humility to go along with it because I think a lot of it also has to do with thinking that the UK royals are a lot more important than they really are outside of the UK.
Well said @ Lux!!! Harry was extremely proud of her achievements when they met as they are both so similarly driven and empathetic. Meghan was eager and willing to perform her duties to the best of her ability. Hell, even QEII was impressed by Meghan!!! Why else would QEII take Meghan in her train for that outing?? QEII was no fool as she saw straight though CopyKeen and her utter lack of work or any work ethic to speak of. Meghan was seeing an opportunity to use her position, side by side with Harry, so that they BOTH could create and maintain positive programs for all to benefit.
As for Cox he knows absolutely nothing about Meghan so he should just shut TF up and sit down. Anyone who speaks with regards to Meghan doesn’t have the ability to speak for her as Meghan is perfectly capable of doing so herself.
Diana was an aristocrat, her Grandmother was a lady in waiting and she STILL didn’t know what she was getting into. Why would an American know or care about the inner workings of these people. Why would she think that they force family to bow to them in PRIVATE or that they’re all lazy and petty. Meghan just thought they’d be proud of her for doing a good job.
But think of how many years since Diana’s death has the royal family pr been that they’ve changed. That they’re kinder, gentler, have learned from their mistakes, they are close to one another, that the problem was that two star-crossed lovers weren’t allowed to be together, and QEII as the UK’s sweet granny. Thatch’s been the message sent out to the US.
Why would a US citizen know about how the UK tabloids operate and that the royals are in cahoots with them, throwing everyone under the bus to protect the monarch and direct heirs? We don’t have anything quite like that here.
Jon Oliver specifically said that Meghan did NOT know what she was getting into. Because Jon Oliver’s from the UK, but he’s lived in America long enough to understand that Americans really don’t get how terrible the Windsors and British press are.
How could he be so optimistic yet he says in Spare all the obstacles/hurdles the family put in the way from they dating stages?
I agree Jais, very much victim blaming.
@Emily C, you’re right about JO. I should’ve clarified that he is the perfect example of a Brit who knew what she was in for, not one saying she should’ve known.
And this is usually a comment directed at women
You are right but it’s not surprising that an “old white man” is going to blame the victim especially when she is a biracial woman.
When Brian Cox is giving Tom Bower vibes….yikes.
Agreed. Even if she knew everything wasn’t going to be great, she probably didn’t expect them to turn out as bad as they did.
Yes, she had such an ambition for it she decided to become an actor and marry someone else first. Sure.
Plenty of people said Diana knew what she was getting into, what was she expecting marrying the Prince of Wales, etc. But once engaged she had no idea either. The fact that everyone forgets this in order to prop up this narrative about Meghan seemingly knowing better is so weird to me.
The she should have known better is directed at women. Some of The worst comments say The woman asked for it. It’s so sexist.
C – yes, I agree. She didn’t set out to marry a prince, what obvious horse sh*t. I also don’t see people looking at the Windsors instead (Charles and Harry specifically) for hunting down sweet, innocent women to ply with their princely charm and world status. Harry could’ve steered clear of Meghan, knowing she’d be more on the naive and trusting side but no – he was searching for someone just like her and he zeroed right in on her. He seems to be a very nice guy, considering where he came from, but still. She wasn’t out there with her magnifying glass hunting for a prince, while he was definitely searching in the haystack for someone who reminded him of his mother. Kudos to him for being a better person and husband than his father, but I’m never going to be looking at Meghan for how or why they met or got together in the first place.
@NX2 agree, Harry sought her out to the extent that sometimes it made me uncomfortable how he talked about her and about how she was more representative of the commonwealth and could help the family broaden its appeal, as if she were a means to an end and not an end itself.
This whole “she must have known what it was going to be like” is such an insane argument, its been addressed very well by others in saying that Diana was from within that world and didn’t know what it would be like and that British people live in a bubble with Britain at the centre of everything and can’t imagine others not being obssessed with this family. On a related note I also have never Googled a date and if I were going on a date with someone famous the last I thing I would do is turn up with a stalker-y binder full of Internet facts on them *especially* if I were famous myself! I would ask Brian Cox if he thinks he knows what it would be like to join the Japanese Royal Family! Why should any American know what being in the British Royal Family is like?!
In any case, and its a shame that people who have experienced fame and fortune from both sides should not realise this – things aren’t necessary how they appear from the outside? As a recovering RTV addict it never ceased to amaze the consistency with which UK Big Brother contestants, even superfans who had themselves been glued previous lives streams, would come out and say how different it felt to be in the show than to watch it… crucially how awful it was and deleterious to their mental health when to many viewers (not me, I used to hate watch it) being in the house appeared to be nonstop fun.
As Royalists remind us when its convenient, these people Never Explain and Never Complain. They are intentionally trying to preserve a mystique around themselves so they actually do all they can to obscure their daily reality to us.
Furthermore, and this goes back to my point about how many celebrities are surprised by how onerous and unfun fame can be, the whole situation is constantly evolving. It has in likelihood become markedly worse in recent years due to devolution of the tabloid media and emergance of social media.
Its easy for Elizabeth II to garner praise- she had only one sibling, ascended young and the media and public were a lot more deferential in her day. The things she thought about how to be royal don’t count for anything, she could not put herself in the shoes of her son and certainly not her grandsons or their spouses? She invented ‘The Royal Family’ patronages and openings, babies and weddings circus (as opposed to the more long standing arrangement, a monarch with a constitutional role surrounded by a family of wealthy loafers who were not required to *do anything*) we have today and it does not represent centuries of unbroken tradition, its a 70 year old experiment – unstable and close to imploding under the weight of its contradictions.
The British Media, it cannot be stressed enough, has undergone a frightening slide in the last 30 years to its current feral state. This theme came up, in almost identical ways to how it is depicted in Spare, in 2 documentaries on UK icons, Gazza and Paula, that I recently watched. Each and every person interviewed is shocked as to the new viscousness meted out by papers like the Sun and Mirror in pursuit of sales. If we needed a reminder the family of Nicole Bullen’s recent appalled statements on coverage of their daughter’s dissappearance and death should have provided it. But even Gazza and Paula didn’t have their OWN FAMILY MEMBERS trying to throw them under the bus. Does Brian Cox really think Meghan should have known her Dad and half sister would sell her out for money? That racist misogynistic hate mobs would be roused against her on the net? REALLY?
Last but not least as always these arguments require that there is no couple, no partnership, but a single controlling intelligence – Meghan Markle. After all this does it still sound to people like Harry knew what it was going to be like after they married? Despite having grown up in the heart of it?!? Harry didn’t know! And Harry is the one who gave up and decided to leave btw, not Meghan. But he doesn’t fit into the narrative as the one who recognised something unsurvivable was developing or as the one who decided they should pack up and leave.
I like Cox so I really hope there is better context here but even if there isn’t, careless stuff to feed the beast in relation to a woman who is monstered on a daily basis. Meghan wanted a husband, children and to be an activist. The idea that any of that required being the British Royal Family is embarrassing myopia.
Nx2 – Thank you for your clear exposition of the facts. Harry initiated contact. The first H-M interview scene in Netflix Harry and Meghan docu-series makes it clear that Meghan was clueless about BRFBros, no matter what Brits or Scots think.
Diana was a teenager. Meghan was a mid 30s, college educated, world traveled, divorce and an actress. That is a foolish comparison.
There is a difference between a girl wanting to and doing everything she can to marry a picne, ( Like KKKate did) and a grown woman falling in love with a prince and adpating her own ambitions as activist into the huge plataform offered by the Royal family.
While I do think Meghan and Harry should have really considered their roles more carefully before jumping in heads on, I dislike this blaming the victim narrative even progressives are spouting, Just because Meghan did not consider all outcomes, she is not to be blamed about the racism and anti americanism she suffered within that institution
At the end of the day, they were just two people in love, trying to make it work in an institution so strange, even aristocrats struggle. It didn’t, they moved on. They’re still two people in love.
“………….While I do think Meghan and Harry should have really considered their roles more carefully before jumping in heads on…”
I wonder what the f*ck this is supposed to mean……..
Really. Especially since PH was ALREADY in.
Lmao. You crack me up.
I guess Harry did enter it headfirst. When he was born.
I initially kind of blamed Harry for her treatment, like he should have told her, or warned her. But then I realized that if you’re neck deep in something and that’s all you know, then you don’t realize how effed up it is. It’s like the Guy in the Cave parable. All he thinks of the world is the shadows on the wall, until he goes outside. He couldn’t have really warned her, because he didn’t realize it himself.
He also did not expect any of this to happen. Chuck pretended to like Meghan — until Meghan started getting a lot of attention, and then Chuck’s uncontrolled toddler jealousy came roaring out. Will and Kate treated Harry’s previous girlfriends fine, and he even said they liked Cressida. He expected a lot of abuse from the press, but he did not expect the huge level of hatred and complicity with the press from his family, especially Will.
If the DM thinks trumpeting these quotes will make Meghan look bad…. it makes the monarchy look worse. I do think Meghan expected to step into a role in that family and do good things. Take her passion for advocacy to a bigger platform. I don’t think that’s WHY she married Harry. But perhaps that was a future she could envision with him. If only the royal family wasn’t so racist, backwards and petty.
Don’t we all look ahead to what the future would be like with our partner? Don’t we look for similar values, and what our path could be together? From listening to Spare, it doesn’t sound like Meghan was pursuing Prince Charming. It sounds like she saw someone with similar values, fell in love, and could envision them working together for their causes on a greater world stage.
There’s also the element of racism that he’s completely ignoring. I feel like this is also victim blaming.
Otherwise, I agree with him about the monarchy.
Eh, this is the Fail’s interpretation of what he said. Remember how they “quoted” Spare before it was released?
Yeah…reserving judgment until the full article is published. The Daily Mail is unreliable, to put it excessively mildly.
Exactly. And I bet Mr. Cox isn’t too fond of being used to fuel the insatiable appetite for negative sussex stories in the Daily Mail. It will be interesting to see if he says anything about them clipping his quotes. He could have meant it the way it looks as well, which is fine. He’s entitled to his opinion.
I have to laugh at the opinions where they say Meghan was ambitious or a social climber with her ‘eyes on the prize’ of a prince and such. As if it’s that easy to just manifest marrying a prince. You can manifest all you want, that doesn’t mean he will choose you or you’ll even ever meet a prince. It’s just such a ridiculous argument. For anyone who marries a prince. It’s not something you can plan.
ETA: Also, if she was gunning for Prince Harry don’t you think she would have asked Eugenie to introduce them since she’d known her for a few years before she even met Harry.
Yes, Megan DID have an ambition. She had an AMBITION to marry a man she loved, and who loved her back. She had an AMBITION to be able to work hard and make a real difference in people’s lives and support a lot of charities. She had an AMBITION, to be respected and supported for the work she was doing by the sht shower she married into
But, the sht shower who have no idea what love and hard work are tried to undermine and bully her at every turn! So then her AMBITION was to protect herself, her husband and her child and get the hell away from the sht shower and their dogs of War (the British press), her then AMBITION was to carry on with her husband, doing good work and living their lives in peace. But the dogs of War and the dinosaurs like this one, won’t leave her alone and continue to try and destroy a woman THEY DONT KNOW. So maybe he should stick to acting and shut the fk up. I’m getting so sick of the daily fail, maybe we should ask them if they still support the Nazi party as they used to, because other than taking their lead from the British Royal sht show, I can’t think of any other reason for continuing this vendetta against a woman of colour
Before I got pregnant I knew having a baby won’t be a walk in the park. Then I had my wonderful, high need daughter and it was so tough I thought I will just drop dead from sheer exhaustion. I understand I should keep my mouth shut and never mention that first year of her life was extremely difficult for me, because “I knew what I was getting myself into”? Old fool. And my baby just had needs, she didn’t decide to make my life as difficult as possible…
Right? Was she supposed to just stop loving Harry and bounce? She knew what she was getting into… I mean she was excited about marrying a hot ginger and doing good things.
@Jais
“Was she supposed to just stop loving Harry and bounce?”
This. This right here, is it. Thats what they all wanted and expected.
Harry said it himself. That: “they KNEW my wife would leave, based on how they were treating her. What they didnt expect was that I would leave with her, And theyre embarrassed.”
PS:
By “they” is meant every stinking piece of sh!t BRF royalist, no matter where in the world they live and no matter how much lip service they give to republicanism.
And Meghan already said she expected criticism, but she didn’t expect the horrible treatment coming from the family. She thought they would be on her side, and if they were she would probably deal with tabloid stories. But they were at war on every front. It is amazin she didn’t pack her bags and go back to California earlier, I don’t think I would be able to stay if my husbands family hated me that much.
Keeping Meghan’s name out of your mouth is free. I’m so sick of folks – especially white men and women from the UK – giving their opinions on her especially since they are almost always rooted in misogynoir and racism. Just STFU.
Truth! It’s repetitive at this point and almost always clout chasing.
At this point it’s better to ignore these people because getting outraged will only give them more attention when tom this will be forgotten about..
Everyone will have their opinions can’t do much about that.
💯. Even if they don’t intend to come off dismissive of actual issues that most of them have zero experience with, it never reads that way. They all need to take the lead of Daniel Radcliffe and answer like he did when asked about ” The Slap”, and say no one cares about my opinion on that.
Me too.
^ 100%!!
Harry didn’t even know what she was getting into. Harry believed they would welcome her and be thrilled with her work ethic and ideas. Therefore Meghan believed what Harry believed. He should know best, right? They were both shocked how it went all wrong.
Absolutely. The treatment of Meghan was the definition of UNPRECEDENTED. Ergo there’s no way she could have known what she was getting herself into. Silly Brian.
If there’s one thing Spare has taught us it’s that we have NO IDEA what goes on inside the Royal Family – and I suspect we don’t know the half of it even now. There’s a reason the RF react so viscerally to insiders telling the truth – because they have so much still to hide.
I wrote the same thing before seeing your comment, which puts it way more succinctly. In short, this 100%—if an active member of the family, in line for the throne, thought she would be a great addition, how could she be anything but optimistic?
Exactly! this also goes along with all the comments of “harry didnt protect her or prepare her” that surface on here sometimes. Harry didn’t realize what she was walking into. He did not expect that behavior from his family, certainly not from his brother and SIL.
Exactly.
I fail to understand why everyone is so concerned about Meghan. She pops up into almost every conversation/interview. It must have shook them harder than anyone thought to leave and live your best life from the BaRF and establishment.
I agree with most of what he said in all honesty but I don’t think Megan or Harry knew how absolutely disgusting the British Press.
I’m not a huge Megan fan, but she really is out here trying to be a good human being.
This is such a shady comment.
Why? Because it doesn’t support Meghan 100%? I would bet Mar reflects the average person’s opinion, this website aside.
not knowing what his whole quote is, i kind of agree with the sentiments of what he said. anyone and everyone under a rock knew about Diana and the amount of scrutiny that she was under and how horribly she was treated by the family and media. even Kate didn’t exactly have a walk in the park in the beginning. so i do think Meghan had an idea this world would be like, and even she said her friends warned her. she’s too smart to not do some research or at least google. i do think harry didn’t prepare her well at all. and was just so so naive in expecting the amount of protection HE THOUGHT they deserved. He wasn’t a smart strategist and didn’t know how to play this weird twisted royal rota tabloid game. Meghan’s fault was she trusted too much, in Harry and his family, and thought she could use the same PR game she used as an actress and underestimated how awful/hateful/racist the British media is.
Yeah I knew about Diana but had no idea how bad the family and media were.
Meghan has said she was naive and they both said they didn’t know it could get this bad.
I also noticed that they seemed to be naive about the hate campaign stopping once they left. I do wonder if the glass half full perspective Meghan has is being used against her.
I get frustrated with the Sussexes because I want them out here killin it!
I sometimes feel like they are on the defense instead of offense especially with their PR. They come out then disappear leaving this vaccum where tabloids fill it with hate.
I feel like they need to be out in these streets more so that people are seeing them for themselves instead of hearing about them from haters and their twisted interpretations. Go to basketball games, award shows, etc.
Someone from their team please tell them!!
@Mikey
“I feel like they need to be out in these streets more so that people are seeing them for themselves instead of hearing about them from haters and their twisted interpretations. Go to basketball games, award shows, etc.”
Oh dear. Mikey……………no. H&M are not gonna put on a performance for the likes of you and any other voyeur who wants to go get popcorn and watch the sh!tshow of the Sussexes battling a 1000-yr old institution.
No. Not gonna happen.
PS:
And no. Theyre not on the defensive. They living their life. Just as how neither I nor anyone else on this thread knows what youre doing right now and know not a d@mn thing about you and your life, so too with H&M. Theyll let you know when they have something to tell/show you. Folks are just gonna have to learn to cope with that fact.
I guess Republican means something a lot different in the UK vs the US because you wouldn’t have a Republican supporting anything socialist here in the states. That being said, who gives a flying fig what he has to say about H&M? I have to wonder at this point if people just make comments because of the algorithm. Because it will give them press to be associated in search results. I mean, was he asked?
Small “r” republican in the UK is a person who supports an elected head of state and a democratic Republic (republican) as opposed to a hereditary head of state and democratic Constitutional Monarchy (monarchist).
Therefore, you may be a Labourite and a monarchist or you may be a Labourite and a republican,
“Republican” outside of the US simply means that you are opposed to monarchy. It has nothing to do with the GOP.
So she knew what she was getting into but still had an “ambition” to do it? And she wanted to be in the family but at the same time expected to leave? Make that make sense.
Why should anyone care what Brian Cox thinks about Meghan?
He does not come off well in this at all.
Ignore him.
One other point, why the hell can’t any of them see, just how very much meghan must love Harry to take this sht every bloody day!
And now let’s all pick apart Brian Cox. What’s good for the goose and all that.
Pale stale male Cox, exhibiting a loss of mental faculties, reversed his prior stance on Harry & Meghan, expressed at the time of Ripple of Hope Award, that they had experienced something real and traumatic. According to fabulist British media, the 76-year old Cox now squarely places blame for H-M trauma squarely on Meghan’s shoulders due to a ‘princess fantasy’.
This viewpoint is so contradictory. So is it that she had ambition to be a princess and all that comes with that including $ and fame or is it that she wanted to pull Harry away (and therefore potentially forfeit the $ and fame)? His viewpoint makes no sense to me. What’s the point of “scheming” to marry a prince only to encourage him to walk away almost immediately from everything that technically makes him one and potentially ending any royal ties? If she was all about the royal thing, she would have encouraged him to stay no matter what the cost to his mental health (see literally everyone else in the RF). Maybe I’m slow, but I don’t get this at all.
Don’t waste your time trying to get it. His comments are reeked in misogyny.
I think once Harry said the unconscious bias bit and saying both he and Meghan love Hussey more and more people have been embolden to talk like this it kind of made them up to be unreliable narrators I don’t think south park and Chris rock would throw shots like that if they left it at the Oprah interview because they would be scared of backlash and the full force of black twitter. Sadly it’s Meghan taking all these strays when she hasn’t even done anything.
Chris rock has been doing that joke about meghan for the past year…months after the Oprah interview. The daily mail made a big deal out of it.
South Park already had that episode done by the time Harry spoke to the British media.
I don’t think his interview had anything to do with this.
But I do think for some in the UK who saw the interview (not many did)…it does make it harder to defend (even though Meghan hasn’t spoken) if you are anti-monarchy.
I also just think people are tired of this constant hate against them so it’s easier to ignore because it’s never ending and especially because Harry and Meghan are rich.
It’s harder to feel sorry for people who are wealthy even though you see clearly it’s wrong.
It’s not hard at all to feel sorry for someone who has been the subject of bullying, DEATH threats, threats to their children’s lives, racism, and misogynoir – even if they are rich. You either have empathy for other human beings or you don’t. It’s simple as that.
@ameerah
Yup but that’s not how right wing media frames it and so to their people it’s “she’s rich so who cares..suck it up”
Chris Rock has a problem with black women, especially ones he thinks wouldn’t give him the time of day, and South Park has taken shots at everyone in 20 years. Do people really think that no one would have criticized Harry and Meghan and that they wouldn’t be subject to jokes from late night, shows like SP or Family Guy, or SNL or comedians ever? That’s literally not how popular culture has ever worked. You make fun of people who are popular so that everyone understands the reference. No one will get on stage, or make a reference that people would have to Google to get.
@dee I agree!
I also knew after the book and Netflix series it would open them up to more jokes.
They do this for everyone especially those at the pinnacle of pop culture. Like it or not that is currently Harry and Meghan. If you’re a fan which I am it sucks to see good people targeted like this but it will continue sadly. They’ve gotten tons of good from it but there also will be a segment of the bad from people who chose to misinterpret them.
South Park did the parody of them because they were in the news a lot and it’s a show that satirises people in popular culture. I doubt the SP creators know anything about Susan Hussey or Harry’s views on race. They did a lazy take based on tabloid misreporting. Chris Rock has been telling the same joke about Meghan for over a year. It was completely based on the Oprah interview. H&M are in the news so comedians will make fun of them. That’s what happens. It’s unfortunate for Meghan because unlike most public figures she has an army of trolls and powerful figures in media against her who blow things up out of all proportion to make it seem like she is widely hated.
How does saying that they liked Hussey make them unreliable? People are complicated and likely PH saw Hussey as someone loyal to his grandmother who never said anything nasty to him or Meghan. She probably knew that QE liked Meghan so minded her manners. Interesting that you want to excuse racist and misogynistic remarks because of one comment from PH.
And we care about Brian Cox’s opinion on the Meghan/Harry marriage why? Love him as an actor, couldn’t possibly care less about his opinions on this.
What is actually so alien about dreaming about marrying Prince Charming? With all the Disney movies, bedtime stories is it a surprise that some of us may want that and imagine if somehow your destiny led to you meeting said Prince(doesn’t have to be a royal) what’s so wrong about wanting to marry someone you love, what’s so wrong about making an effort. I pray to meet someone I have ambitions to marry and vice versa them for me.
In summary this man is annoying
Saying that Meghan went into the system and expected “them to cut themselves off” or change is one of the reasons I hate when the average person or some squaddies promote the narrative that Meghan wanted to “change” the monarchy. Her own success (the cookbook, vogue, smart set, elephant doc) had nothing to do with the system of the royal family (in fact she did all those projects on her own, without help from the palace), it came from the understanding that she would have to work twice as hard as the other white royals who sit around doing nothing & still get glowing sycophantic articles. I would actually say it’s Harry that’s been wanting to change the system even before meeting Meghan.
Meghan will never be able to change these peoples minds. She’ll never be able to get away from people like him..older white men and women especially who only seem to pay attention to British media and don’t actually pay attention to what Meghan says or does.
This is the rest of her life!
No wonder she doesn’t come outside.
I hope she persists and thrives away from these haters. I hope she doesn’t give less of herself or concern herself with what the haters say.
I want to see her out more but with people like Brian, trolls, British and right wing media psychoanalyzing her I can understand why she stays low key.
I’m going to wait for the full quotes because Brian ain’t new and would not give that kind of ammunition, I believe.
Then why comment at all? And even Sarah Ferguson has managed to make diplomatic comments that weren’t open to terrible twisting and interpretation. Maybe I should read some of her books because she appears to be better with words than most people.
Brian talks. There has never been a topic in a interview that he will never not talk about.
Perhaps he needs to learn when to shut up then. Nobody is an expert on everything and certainly not on someone else’s life.
Then maybe he should have talked about Meghan’s accomplishments instead of making her out to seem like some one-track-minded clout-chaser in her pursuit of marrying a prince.
I think Actors and public figures need to learn not to get involved in the Saga of the exiled Prince. Your words always get twisted and used out of context.
But do we think they care though? So far none of them have said oops sorry that’s not what I meant.
Also most of them are from the UK so they know exactly what they are doing.
Good point.
I’ve been wanting to comment on this whole Cinderella fantasy for a while. I think in the US for the last few decades girls grow up fantasizing who they will be, a lawyer, teacher, veterinarian, president, not so much what man they will marry. It may still be a thing in the UK but I think it’s pretty outdated in the US. Secondly, a prince and gold carriage would probably be down the list after movie star, president … I know many rr have said Meghan grew up dreaming of riding in a gold carriage, but really? I don’t think so. Maybe a Mercedes or whatever expensive car.
All because Meghan wore a crown and a sash at her birthday party when she was a kid (who didn’t?). She’s never denied being ambitious and she’s also mentioned the kinds of people she’s inspired by and members of the BaRF have never been on that list. The BM can’t say she knew what she was getting into while also calling her a dunce because she knew nothing about the British in a quiz she did while promoting Suits. Which is it?
The princess fantasy is alive and well even for girls today and it permeates culture in the US as much as the UK. The entire Disney princess thing only really got going in the 90s.
Now it doesn’t mean that girls don’t also want to do other things with their lives too, well I mean except for Kate, but even if it doesn’t mean being a literal princess, there is a lot of that imagery out there.
Personally, I had this awesome princess dress I got at goodwill. I wore it with a crown and a wand for Halloween twice. I was seven. And the Little Mermaid was my favorite princess movie as a kid. Now, I love swimming in the ocean but everyone knows the ocean can be dangerous too. So if I drown in the ocean, is it my fault bc I should have known what I was getting myself into? If only I hadn’t watched the little mermaid so many times as a kid. 😂not sure this analogy just made sense 😂
I had princess themed birthday parties as a kid and played dress up as a princess. I love the Disney princesses and Disneyland is one of my favorite places to go to also. This is definite proof I’ve been plotting to marry into that den of dysfunction 😂😂
I think this again goes back to the cultural differences between the US vs the U.K. Here in the US we grew up with Disney and as little girls we wanted to be a princess . I know I did lol.. I loved Cinderella growing up and wanted a Prince Charming like her .. lol.. but I mean , as we grew older we had ambitions to be successful on our own and to find a great person eventually to love and have children with. I think Meghan is like many of us who worked and studied hard, got into a prestigious university and achieved a successful career as an actress. And found someone she loves to have children with(who just happened to be a real prince .) . But it’s not like she made a career of going to nightclubs during her single years to attach herself to wealthy men(ie Kate M). But the British tabloids think they all know about what they call the “vapid” US culture. (Me Rolling eyes ).
I think anyone familiar with Meghan’s pre-Harry thoughts via Instagram, interviews or The Tig understands, at a very base level, Meghan is NOT about Cinderella. However, she IS about SHE-RA. And doing good works to foster community and connection.
I need people to start using some sense when speaking about Meghan. What is wrong with having ambitions to marry “Prince Charming”? We all want “happy ever afters” with the ones we love. In this case, Harry just happens to be a literal prince. Also, HE was the one who pursued her, no amount of trying to rewrite history will change that fact. Forgive her for thinking she could use this huge, unearned platform to do some good in this world and possibly create change. 🙄
I think she did have princess ambitions too.
But the difference between how she and Kate did it was that Kate stalked for her princess ambitions, foregoing any personal ambitions.
Meghan on the other hand, manifested that shit. She did things she wanted to do, made the right contacts, and caught the princes eye by being herself.
And did it QUICK! No years of WAITING! That must of really STUNG! LOL
I shouldn’t be surrprised by Cox’s comments, he’s British. Given she said that she didn’t have fantasies of marrying a prince when she was young, Cox is off base. Meghan had an expectation of being treated well and fairly and that she would be allowed to use her royal platform to do good. Unfortunately she was lied to and left unprotected. If she had ambitions of being a princess she would be still working for the Royal Family.
But do little girl dreams need commenting on by a man in his twilight years? I mean, I wanted to marry Leif Garrett. LEIF GARRETT. 👀
I came on here a few weeks ago and said Meghan especially has a lot of enemies in “Hollywood” and some tried to argue me down.
A lot of people like brian, Rupert, Judy dench, Eli Goulding exist. There are others who are producers and executives. In fact the booking producer at GMA is British…that’s why Jobson is always on there. These are the people like Tina brown who are quoted in pieces for vanity fair. They are everywhere!
So Meghan and Harry hanging out with Ellen was not a problem for me. They need all the high power friends they can get especially when the whole establishment is out to get them and they aren’t afraid to vocalize it.
The best thing they can do now is just get past the coronation and go full force in their own projects away from the firm.
@Cc the best thing they can do is whatever the hell they want. Those people you mentioned are British. British actors are the not end all and be all of Hollywood & entertainment power hitters. Do you really think they aren’t brainwashed (maybe racist) or wanting to keep their homeland success by taking sides. The fact that If I were Meghan I wouldn’t lose sleep over this fool .. he sounds like a gossip and misogynist. Where is Harry’s part in all this according to him!? Oh of course not because its all Meghan. Also eff the Chubbly coronation.
Tyler Perry and Oprah more than balance out those you mention.
We debated with you because you kept mentioning people who aren’t in Hollywood to try to say Hollywood hates them. You mentioned British people who sometimes go to events in Hollywood but are largely establishment.
People not liking you =/= enemies. Literally almost every celeb has their own fellow celebs not like them for whatever reasons. This isn’t some unique thing to H&M.
I also had ambitions to marry the Hot Ginger Prince Harry. 😉
Jokes aside this is asinine. “She inserted herself” dated a guy that wanted to date her to the point he asked HER for HER hand in marriage.
“She knew what she was getting into” first off Diana married a cheating lying horrible person that told he her didn’t love her on their wedding day. She was a teenager and Charles was 30! Meghan married a man that wanted to marry her. Yes I don’t like my in-laws either but they are just kinda of annoying with their opinions but they didn’t try to or support others to bully me into killing myself. THAT NO ONE SAW COMING.
And lastly get the ear wax out of your ears Brian Harry is the one that wanted to leave NOT Meghan. I really feel that a lot of the UK is in their feelings and missing Harry and can’t understand that Harry wanted to leave, happy to leave and grateful to leave with her and Archie. Not because he hates the UK but because of William. Why doesn’t he remember that part. Its like the movie IT when the whole town just gets memory loss and cant and wont see the truth. Harry would be in the UK had William not been an ass hat. If he isn’t a monarchist why cant he say it! W.I.L.L.I.A.M DID THIS!!!!!!!!
What the hell is Haute Living New York? According to Google, it has a circulation of 35,000 LOL.
Of course, the British media have to ferret out any comments relating to Meghan, no matter how obscure. And the reference to Megxit? The misogynoir continues.
I think both can be (and probably are) true. I think Meghan was excited to use her new role to advance her charity work and be a voice. I disagree that she went into it expecting for them to cut ties eventually. I think certain people were jealous of the way the public embraced H&M and fed lies to the media to bring them down a few notches, just like certain people did to Harry when he was a teenager to make themselves look/feel better. Only problem is they expected Meghan to shut up and accept it (which she did to a point) but they never expected that Harry actually was in love with his wife (a novel concept!!) and was willing to throw down for her.
i love how these old white men think they know these things. Like they were consulted? This is a woman who had a marriage before Harry, and her own money. The establishment rolled her because they’re racist and have things to hide. No one could’ve predicted that, and if you think you could’ve, you’re a fool.
You could say the same thing about any woman who married in to the BRF, Diana, Kate, Fergie, Sophie etc.
Brian Cox is anti-monarchy because he thinks that it is a useless, archaic institution that needs to be abolished . That being so, it’s understandable that he might not be impressed by or understand why someone should want to marry into or play a part in that institution. I’d run a mile! It seems to be just a couple of casual remarks in a magazine I’ve never heard of and is hardly offensive even when framed by a Daily Mail article.
@CallyForbes, I agree with your assessment. From what I’ve seen, the republicans don’t seem impressed by someone who wants to marry into what they think is an unjust, rotten institution. Nothing excuses the abuse she faced in the institution and the press. But if you’re anti-monarchy, you’re not going to understand or likely have much time for anyone who wants to marry into the institution.
She fell in love with Harry, not the institution. That is the problem with that argument. She wanted to join the family as any wife would, for her husband, not for them. So if the anti-monarchical position is what makes him state this, he is not very good at nuance or empathy.
But frankly to me it does show an interesting facet of his viewpoint – Cox may be a Scottish anti-monarchist but he is still from the UK and therefore the idea that this institution is always what people want to pursue seems to be at the forefront of his mind rather than the reality, which is that Meghan joined because she wanted to join her husband, not because being a royal was her focus or ambition.
I actually looked up his words in context, here they are:
“Cox pauses. “I find that it’s really just so sad that we don’t acknowledge our own humanity enough. We don’t acknowledge what we’ve been through on behalf of a family — a ruling family. And that’s why, when you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry [there they are!], you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about.’ And with her, too. But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off. I mean, she knew what she was getting into, and there’s an ambition there clearly as well — the childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that shit we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams. I’m a Cinderella person, you know.”
So, yeah, I feel like my comment is fair. He ascribes Cinderella fantasies to her attempting some type of empathy but it’s mostly projection.
Thanks for posting the original. It’s a bit rambling, thinking aloud, trying to imagine himself in that position as any actor would be inclined to do, and quite sympathetic to the couple even thought he is completely anti-monarchist. Far less aggressive than the Daily Mail version made it sound. I can’t see any harm in it.
Meghan certainly didn’t know what she was getting into, especially the racism, arrogance, jealousy and outright hatred she faced from that fecking family when she was only trying to do her best. She thought being in the BRF would mean she’d have a much larger platform with which to accomplish her charity work and philanthropy. Brian Cox’s misogynoir is very apparent.
Did he ever personally talk about cowmilla?
Is this one of a way to attract people to buy his book?
How did his sale go?
Being a republican and wanting Scottish independence and the end of the British monarchy doesn’t make Brian cox any less racist. Two things can still be true at the same time
I agree with your latter point – she saw the BRF as a much bigger platform to do her activist work rather than going “ooooo shiny!!!” at the titles and the jewellery. Maybe she did but I don’t think she ever looked at Harry and her first thought was “yes i’ll get to have pretty tiaras!” or whatever.
Brian Cox should STFU on this one. Especially since it’s a bit of a u-turn on his public support previously. I’ve got news for Brian, most of us left the Princess stage before middle school. Some of us really didn’t have any desire or ambition to marry a British prince, ever. Ask your Irish colleagues, Brian. So to put this ambition on a 34 year old American woman who worked in service to the UN is infantile and he can get in the sea. Any ambitions with the Royal Family would have been on that service level. And where did either of them say in the beginning they wanted to work partly outside the system? I don’t know where Cox gets his ideas but the fact he then went on Piers fucking Morgan’s show and spewed them out is a red line for me.
@fee, Cox went on Piers Morgan’s show? Yuck. My earlier comment did not post but I absolutely agree that this statement contradicts that which Cox made 3 months ago. I wonder what caused him to turn around on that.
It is reminiscent to me of Sharon Osbourne’s complete reversal about Meghan, going from recognizing certain “issues” that Tom Sr. may have, and empathizing with Meghan, to Meghan is a bad daughter and person. One common element there is Piers Morgan. Seriously, how can that man sway these people’s opinions?
This just made me so proud of my father. I would absolutely die if my father had an opinion about a royal and then, worse, voiced it in public. Thank you Dad for not being a loser.
Yes! Why does he even have an opinion? And thinks he should share it? Does he even met H or M?
Fully agree that there is nothing wrong with having the ambition to marry a Prince Charming.
Yeah? He’s hot, rich and royal. Who wouldn’t?
He’s “rich” but he couldn’t afford to buy a sofa himself or support his own family financially.
Yes rich. I would say having his inheritance from the queen mother and his own mother rich. 15-20 million. That is how they could afford to leave. He was set to get more once married but Will couldn’t allow that to happen.
@Okay, no one knows if Harry inherited anything from Queen. He only confirmed the inheritance from Diana, which he and Meghan decided to save for their children. Before making deals with Netflix and Spotify, they didn’t know how to afford the million dollars per year security they needed due to increased threats created by BM. Now, after their commercial deals, yes they are rich, but no thanks to his family who left them to die or crawl back to be abused.
Same with Meghan, she’s hot, rich and part of Hollywood and bought a couch for their house. Harry lucked out and even says so.
Meghan lost a lot because of her marriage to this white man, he is a prince in name only.
Nah, Meghan has gained far more important things in her life with Harry than she had without him.
Bullcrap. There are a lot of people trying to smear Harry now creeping about. Harry is a very good person, filled with love, compassion, and humor. Oh and he’s hot too.
Meghan has never expressed regret about marrying THE MAN SHE LOVES. In fact, she’s said things about how happy she is with him, and that their love has triumphed. Often in the context of telling other people not to give up on their own love, because fairy tales do come true. The fairy tale isn’t marrying a prince. It’s marrying the person you love and living in love for the rest of your lives. A whole lot of us have it. And a whole lot of people are bitter about that.
Well, well. I was considering giving Succession a peak.
Now? Nah.
Sometimes it is better not to share a personal opinion, this is definitely one of those times.
Even as an republican, where the head of state is chosen by the party in power for a fixed duration, Mr Cox seem to want to have a say in whom a person of royalty marries.
It is none of his business.
A ‘No Comment’ was appropriate in this instance.
He doesn’t know Meghan well enough to have an accurate sense of her.
A whole lot of people just plain refuse to believe that a woman could ever marry a man because she fell in love with him. Period. That’s it. And love is phenomenally powerful. I know it’s unfashionable to say so — maybe even “cringe”? But love is what will win in the end. It destroys old oppressive structures and creates new things. That’s why so many people find it so threatening.
Meghan and Harry wanted to do good things for the monarchy but they also wanted the things they did to be meaningful and with a defined purpose-they bonded over this because this is what they both wanted to do-Meghan probably thought the royals were more of progressive thinkers than they really were-Harry and Meghan think in forward looking manner with better outcomes for the future-Cox stated it correctly this is a very very old institution-they rarely change their habits or ways of doing things-If they tell you to dim your light in yourself-they expect you do so-this was hard for Meghan and in some ways Harry-this crushes an individual’s natural instincts which I don’t think neither Harry or Meghan were prepared for-Meghan’s American upbringing about working hard and doing your very best to succeed-does not compute with the royal family’s upbringing-Harry and Meghan never did quite see the overt racial overtones directed at them by the media and the royals-when it happened with no apologies they knew they had to leave-not only for their sakes but most importantly for their child’s sake-they could not take year after year of abuse and hostility in their lives.
@prairiegirl, @mar. I will never understand people who obviously hate Meghan come to sites that support her. Do you think we will just say one day say they’re right , I now believe all the tabloids lies about Meghan? We’ve done our research. Harry pursued Meghan, they fell in love and got married. They were in their 30s and knew what they wanted. Harry was mistaken about his family. That is all he knew. Meghan believed him. I used to visit England many times and thought the racism was not like in the US. This situation has opened my eyes and I doubt I will ever visit again. Meghan had visited but did not live there as a biracial woman. Her not knowing doesn’t make her underhanded. Harry hoped they would change. They were both wrong. Bottom line is these 2 people are putting up with a lot of hate for their love. Money does not protect from the hate but should give them a refuge from it. No one can plan this.
[…] gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” So it was with that Brian Cox story in the Daily Mail. I strongly suspect that Haute Living New York sent out a promotional email with a few excerpted […]