I’m enjoying this new-shiny-penny vibe we have with the Duchess of Sussex. Maybe in a few years, we’ll look back on this moment and laugh at how gullible we were to really and truly believe that Meghan would hit the ground running and really work, work, work. I still believe that we should give Meg the same kind of “grace period” or period of adjustment that we gave to the Duchess of Cambridge – it was about a year into the Cambridge marriage where people really began to question if Kate was actually going to do much of anything in her role, and six years later, people are still asking those questions. But Meghan is truly keen! Hopefully. From People Magazine:
With the royal wedding behind her, Meghan is now ready for the real work to begin.
“She’s not going to want to be a quiet princess and simply open hospitals or cut ribbons,” a royal insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.
Meghan will likely focus on issues concerning “young women and teenage girls. She is familiarizing herself with the landscape in this country,” says Lorraine Heggessey, chief executive officer of the Royal Foundation, which oversees the charitable efforts of Prince William, Kate Middleton, Harry and now Meghan. “She’s meeting groups and wants to do that privately so she can get to know people.”
Adds Meghan’s longtime friend and makeup artist Daniel Martin: “There is a lot of work ahead of her, and it takes a really strong person to fill those shoes. This is now a huge platform for Meghan to really get into the activism that she wants to do. She’s really stoked about taking on the role and trying to make change happen.”
“She’s not going to want to be a quiet princess and simply open hospitals or cut ribbons.” What bugs me about that is that’s what “sources” said about Kate too, that she would be transformative, that she would break the royal mold and do things her own way. And look how that turned out. It also bugs me because… opening hospitals and cutting ribbons are a big part of being royal. That’s a good chunk of “royal work,” and that’s the part of royal work that William and Kate have historically eschewed as well. I mean… I’m still giving Meghan the grace period to adjust and figure it out, but this People story concerns me for a few reasons.
Cover courtesy of People, additional photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I love Meghan but these headlines are starting to become…a bit much.
Yeah, it’s important to control your narrative but don’t make people tired of you before you even start.
And don’t put something down to make the thing you want to do seem better and more important. Just focus on positivity rather than personal showboating. Those ribbon cuttings may be important to the people attending them. Why put them down?
@Natalie: ITA. “Ribbon-cuttings” and other events, such as opening hospitals, etc. are always referred to as if they’re a useless waste of a royal’s time, too insignificant to be bothered with, but they aren’t and I think it’s insulting to all of the people who work so hard to make the events happen in the first place.
It is extremely important to the BRF to get out there and do those things to meet their “subjects” (cringe) and bring attention to the cause.
It will be disappointing if Harry and Meghan treat these sorts of community-building events as disdainfully as William and Kate have. JMO
Opening civic endeavors, cutting ribbons, opening hospital wings are the things that build public good will. My mother still remembers Princess Alexandra coming into town to open a bridge, but I bet she could tell you nothing about a splashy PR campaign. To hear those sorts of visits denigrated bugs me. In order to do the flashy stuff that’s fun and feels good, I think it’s really good to build that foundation with people, and generate a few local headlines. They get their lifestyles funded by the people; least they can do is thank them for it.
In all fairness, Meghan has not been quoted as saying any of these things. I don’t think it’s right to take them at face value when it’s just the media spouting off.
If people are tired of the “narrative” being put out there, it is not the Duchesses’s fault. The media wants to stay relevant by “reporting” on her.
The press is doing Meghan no favors by setting lofty expectations this early in her entry into the royal family. While I think she will out work Kate (not saying much) she’s being set up to disappoint. The barrage of articles proclaiming Meghan’s keenness remind me of the Clooney PR machine selling Amal as a special unicorn.
Thank you! And how can Amal teach Meghan how to be a royal? The press needs to take a seat and wait to see what she’s going to do.
Same here, Lorelei. Next up will be that she’s discovered Atlantis, followed by manning a one-woman mission to Mars (where she’ll find a source of water, natch) and so on. I mean, I’m sure she’ll be productive and work hard but enough with the halo-fitting, already.
Also, as Natalie S said, don’t put down ribbon cuttings and hospital openings; they’re just as important, if in a different way.
You need to take People articles with a large grain of salt, say house-sized.
I take People magazine as PR talking points straight from the publicist’s office.
^which they are
ITA with you @CBers, I believe its the publicist that’s laying it on too thick. I’m a huge Meghan fan but I too am beginning to get a bit tired of to much praise, Meghan’s PR needs to take it down a notch or 2. I’m not very familiar with how things work in terms of promoting a client as I don’t recall how Kate’s PR was in the beginning. So Im not sure if this is how all the new wives are promoted or what, not really sure. Part of me thinks that if Meg is not seen or heard of, she will be forgotten and therefore branded lazy?? Not sure. But another part of me thinks well, don’t be the in your face kind of presence, people need their space you know!! So, I think they need to find a medium, not have her too present in terms of these constant high praise articles they’re pushing out, but not entirely out of sight.
Masamf: Kate’s PR was much MORE than we are seeing with Meghan. The narrative was that she would single-handedly save the monarchy with a combination of her middle class blood and work ethic. She was one of us. Her coalmining ancestors were frequently evoked to make her seem more of a unicorn.
Meghan’s PR is singing from a similar, muted hymn sheet.
Kate’s PR was – and still is – way above this. Hell even now every time they mention her they refer her to as a “hands on mom” or there’s mention of her “breaking the royal rules” or something. There’s a huge push to emphasize how she is just like us but with more money and better hair.
(and FWIW I do think she is an active parent and probably a good mom, and probably more hands-on than many other royal parents, but let’s not act like she is just like us.)
ITA LAK – People has been giving straight PR pieces from Jason. I don’t blame Meghan for wanting to help in big ways, but as Kaiser says, cutting ribbons is perfectly respectable royal work and will touch many subjects.
What’s she been doing for the last year and a half since they were engaged?
I think Meghan will work a lot because she’s used to doing it. Meantime she’s listed in the 25 women shaping 2018 list from British Vogue. She’s the only royal in the list.
And she strikes me as competent. I have absolutely no evidence to base that on, so it’s just a feeling I have. But she at least presents as a competent professional.
Im waiting with held breath for her to cure cancer and abolish poverty.
Or, for these kissass sources to remove their lips from her butthole long enough to take a small breath.
Exactly. She will not do more than she is allowed to do.
LOL!
I’m in this corner. The Empress’s new clothes will eventually be shown as they are. She’s no better or worse than any in that crowd–a crowd that’s pretty damn problematic. Lie down with dogs…
While EII is alive she will be restricted to what Buckingham Palace requires of her. Thus, the appointment of EII’s former staff member. Upon EII’s death, Charles could give her some leeway as long as he is overshadowed.
@Cher, no one really knows why HM’s former sec was assigned to Meghan, to claim to know is just very misleading. And no one really knows what Meghan will or won’t be allowed to do, to claim otherwise is very misleading.
“changing the world.” oh for pete’s sake. Poor Meghan. What buildup! It does remind me of Kate – she was going to change the monarchy!! She was the next Diana!!!! (and she did change things in some ways, notably skipping Christmas at Sandringham and not doing that many appearances…..but those aren’t necessarily good things. Well Sandringham might be. I don’t really care about that one.)
ANYWAY.
I think Meghan is going to follow Charles and Camilla’s lead here. I don’t follow them that intensely (I follow the younger ones more) but I still think they do a good mix of overseas travel, ribbon cutting and hospital opening, AND are active in causes that you can tell mean a lot to them. They do the more boring things that are the bread and butter of the royal family while combining those things with events that are more directly related to their interests. I think Meghan is going to be similar. Some events she will do just because, and some events she will do because she wants to.
Kate’s issue became that she wasn’t going to be that involved in too many things because EVERYTHING had to mean something deeply to her, and EVERY cause has to be near and dear to her heart, so she was going to be picky about it. (at least that’s one of the theories of hard core Kate fans.) But to many, that just seemed a cover to not work (I would be in that latter group.)
I don’t think Meghan is going to do that.
I think it was the official plan and not just speculation that Kate would only pick only a few, and that was after a year of research, so that she could really commit and yeah, that did not happen. I remember that because I totally fell for it and thought that could be a smart approach.
Yeah I agree that I think that was the official plan (to still work hard but focus on select charities and causes), but I think Kate viewed it differently, lol.
Those things that we’re to believe are so dear to Katie Keen’s heart? It isn’t like she is pouring hours into them. She wasn’t visiting her handful of selected, oh-so-important-to-her charities more than once every year or two. Some get recycled public letters once a year or a few minute PSA that she gives less than 30 minutes of “work” for, as tracked by the journalists standing outside timing her arrival and departure for filming.
These headlines are ridiculous. Meghan is not going to make the royals “woke” or less racist. She’s also not going to transform much. She’s going to largely fall in line.
Do I think she will be as lazy as Kate? No. But the idea that she’s going to be some super transformative presence is laughable.
I agree. I think people are projecting way too much of what they wish would happen on to her shoulders. And they’re all going to be mighty disappointed when it doesn’t actually go that way. As long as QEII is alive, she’s going to do what she’s told.
They all do what they’re told, not just because TQ is alive, its just that in order for the machine to work smoothly, they can’t have everyone do what they want or not do nothing at all. But in addition to doing what they’re told, my belief (or my hope for Meghan) is that she will get to do other things that are of interest to and are close to her heart. I don’t know why I feel like Meghan coming into this role from working as an actress was an advantage to her. I have a feeling that in the 1.5 year leading to her engagement, she studied on this BRF machine and familiarized herself with how it works, what to expect and what not to. In that regard, I have a feeling that she has to have had a team of lawyers (with Harry’s full support and PoW full blessing) and reps that got into some sort of contracts or signed agreements that Meg will be allowed to do ABCD. That doesn’t mean they must have agreed to have her do anything she wanted but I think she will have leeway to do more things that haven’t in the past been allowed for people to do. This of course will be chalked to the BRF evolving and moving into current times etc, etc. MO of course.
Quite. People need to stop placing these ridiculous expectations on her. She’ll do whatever’s required of her and, because she’s clearly up for the job, will in time make her own mark with the causes she champions, just as other royals before her have done with their chosen causes. But that’s it. She is not the messiah.
Agree with you. Unlike Kate, Meghan had a work ethic before joining the royals so that is a positive. However she will be constrained by the same protocols and rules as the other “working” royals.
I said sth similar before the wedding. The press is out of control, reality is that mm will have little or no impact.
Let’s see, at this moment she’s on their honeymoon, she’s getting some Princess lessons, she’s receiving advices from the Clooneys, from Kate and Will and Camilla, she’s in Canada, somewhere in Africa, she’s gonna have working honeymoon,… The press knows nothing and they are milking this wedding and the press is gonna set her up to fall.
Reminds me of when Obama was elected. OMG, its time for wonderous CHANGE. Not so. He could achieved exactly what the powers that be allowed him to. It will be the same with Meghan.
Cutting ribbons and visiting hospitals are basic royal events but they are able to/can do more than that – like setup The Princes’s Trust, DoE Award Scheme, Invictus Games etc… The can make their own events/opportunities but yeah I agree these stories are getting irritating, the press are setting things up for a ‘Duchess off’ – its not going to end well.
If the events are all international projects and not part of her, for lack of better word, new kingdom, what is the point?
She needs to represent the UK, the UK had higher viewership for Edwards marriage, so monarchists are a dying bread. Cutting ribbons means lots of meetings with their “people”, and can turn them into royalists who feel the need for royalty. As they see them and that they care about UK day to day life. If they only act like a UNICEF abroad, but for profit (as paid by taxpayers), the UK will feel no ties and cut them loose.
And yes Harry is supposedly focusing on the commonwealth, but if the UK tossed them out, the commonwealth isn’t going to keep them.
This x 1000. The UK funds the royals through the Sovereign Grant, Duchy profits, and a slew of other funds, plus hundreds of millions of pounds per year in security. The brothers and their wives need to get with that programme and do whatever is required in the UK ‘cos it’s the UK taxpayers who are paying for their lives of undeserved and unearned luxury. The Commonwealth WILL NOT support them, apart from reimbursing costs from their useless time-filler tours.
The brothers have said they are not interested in the ribbon-cutting et al. They want to do the flashy stuff, and do less work overall. The Queen has let these men get away with all sorts of nonsense over the years, and they expect the taxpayers to follow suit. Because mummy.
Meghan will ultimately follow Harry’s lead. He’s not been much of a worker for the royals since leaving the army, preferring to indulge his own interests. He was often under the radar and had the lowest CC numbers. So, either she revs him up to work more or she’ll slip into his patterns with palace PR whipping them up to be fabulous, as they do the Cambridge’s. The boys and Kate hide behind their PR big time.
Harry and MEghan said they want to make the WORLD a better place – the WORLD, not just boring old England. England isn’t a lofty enough goal for them.
Meghan now has the fame she has thirsted for the past 15 years. I wonder what she will do with it.
I believe she’ll be different based on her bio on the RF website. I hope she really does use her platform for worthwhile causes, like speaking out about human trafficking or being a patron of organizations that teach girls competitive work skills, etc. That is all possible, so why not?
Yes. I think the difference between her and Kate is that Meghan has a long time established interest in public service/charity work, and really seems to find it meaningful, and enjoys being in the public eye. Kate did not and does not and does not.
Fyi: Eugenie has been speaking out about Human trafficking and Slavery since 2016. She’s partner-d up with the Samaritans to raise awareness of it, and she attends events highlighting the efforts to combat it. That’s one of the reasons she was at the same event as Meghan and Harry back in April.
https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/HRH-Princess-Eugenie-Supports-The-Salvation-Army
Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvl92j8eJO4
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKeCp44ESI
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a20052552/princess-eugenie-anti-slavery-collective/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3835165/Princess-Eugenie-joins-Theresa-commemorate-abolitionist-William-Wilberforce-Westminster-Abbey-service-highlighting-Britain-s-fight-against-modern-slavery.html
The reasons stated above by @namechange, @Chaine and @Lak and others before that are why I believe Meghan will be allowed to do more and not less. The BRF is evolving, what was taboo back in Diana’s day is doable today. And for some who think Meghan will not be allowed to outwork Kate the future consort, I think that will not be the case. I Believe if Meghan is willing to put in the hours, she will not be hindered just to make Kate look good.
ps. And Im not sure why many are getting their pants tied in knots over “cutting ribbons etc”, the article said Meghan will not be content doing just those. It doesn’t say, she won’t do them or she don’t value doing them, it said she wants to do more than cutting ribbons and opening hospitals. That means she wants to cut ribbons, open hospitals and work on other projects. At least that’s how I understood it.
Everyone else in the royal family outworks Kate so I don’t see why they would stop Meghan.
Masamf: ‘Ribbon cutting’ is simple shorthand to devalue those types of engagements. WHK have made it very clear they don’t value them and will cut them down in favour of the splashy once a year big PR events.
On the flipside, the public is equally sneery of ”ribbon cutting events’ which is a hoot considering they are sneering at themselves.
Well, she is not going to be a princess to begin with….
Sorry, I’ve always been irritated with people mixing up their titles
I think it is an American thing. They don’t understand that even though she married a prince that does not mean that she is a princess. It kind of irks me too.
She is technically Princess Henry of wales
She is princess Henry.
She is thirty-six. Harry is dying to have kids allegedly. The first order of business will be to have babies.
Here is to hope they have twins. Cross fingers.
I am hoping for identical baby girl twins just like I had.
How cute would that be right?
But I believe they could have twins boy/girl cause she might get a treatment to increase fertility or IVF.
Yas, even I am already waiting for the babies.
Twins is a great idea XD
LOL, @loislane, thats will be a dream come true (my dream of course). But unlike you, I’m praying for frat twins, a ginger boy and a blond girl (blond like Diana) or a brunette girl like her mama, but definitely a ginger boy. Uhhm, be still my heart.
Meghan will be vocal if the royal PTB allow her to be, but if they want her to STFU, then she will STFU. Meghan allowed herself to be directed, controlled and/or stifled when she was a royal girlfriend in her quest to become a royal duchess, of course she is going to fall in line now that she actually is a royal duchess.
@aaa, they stop her alright, just before she gave an interview to Vanity Fair.
The latest I read, was the firm muffled Doria, so she can’t talk about her daughter, without their permission.
The Vanity Fair interview was conducted with full permission from KP.
All the reporters on the royal beat confirmed it.
It was a way to introduce Meghan to the public in a decent, high brow magazine. They did the same for Kate a month before the engagement to William was announced though she wasn’t given a cover.
LAK, what was the editorial Kate did? As far as I know she’s never given interviews to any magazines, let alone talk about “her boyfriend” and “loving a good love story.”
KP means Harry and William. KP permission means nothing when Harry is so in love he is ready to anything to please Meghan.
Why introduce her? She had a blog, wrote articles, gave interviews, had her instagram and twitter account. By all means, public knew much more about her in the first week when their relationship became public than they did in all nine-ten years of Kate and William courtship. All direct from her mouth.
VF cover was an ego trip.
Pimo: The persona the public saw on social media and fashion magazines was all Hollywood hype.
Showcasing her in Vanity Fair was designed to introduce the real, authentic, raw Meghan. To draw a line and distance between Hollywood Meghan and soon to be Duchess Meghan.
Kate had a publicity campaign that promoted her much like Pippa. She was never directly interviewed, but there were exclusive photoshoots with publications like Hello Magazine, Tatler Magazine declared her the tops repeatedly, she went to pap friendly places so that her picture was regularly in the papers.
Her vanity fair profile was written by a Middleton surrogate who later wrote her authorised biography. It was designed to whitewash the waitying years, and to introduce Kate to the public as the authentic person not the tabloid one.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/12/william-and-kate-201012
Ps: Magazines appear a month earlier than stated edition therefore whilst the article appeared in the December edition, the magazine was on the newstands in November ahead of the engagement announcement.
KP is William and Harry. They have been very aggressive about their privacy and the media. Zero tolerance.anyone who breaches the line is out.
Vanity Fair loves royals and goes out of it’s way to court them. They wouldn’t risk jeopardizing that relationship by interviewing someone in the inner circle without letting the Palace know.
That said, if Meghan had somehow talked Vanity Fair into showcasing her without KP’s knowledge, KP granted permission after the fact because they let UK media know as much.
@Pimo, you joking, right. All the posts from Meghan’s nay sayers were complaints about how little the public AND Harry (yes many claimed to know exactly what Harty thought and how he felt about Meghan ), knew Meghan since they hadn’t dated long enough. The claims were that the public knew Kate so well and William knew her very very well since they’d dated for for year. Now ypu climate the public knew more about Meghan than they did Kate? All from that VF article? SMH.
Meghan will never be a Kate.
While Meghan will not be able to change much but at least she will change things a little.
I can image 30 years from now we will look back and laugh at how big of a deal this was.
Eh, I believe that she will be very involved simply because of her background. She’s worked and always has. It’s hard to not work if you’re so used to it. Waity on the other hand, never wanted to work and never really had to. So, having her do even the simplest of things, like give a short two minute speech, or work once or twice or three times a week is asking too much. Plus, she’s Harry’s wife and Charles’ favorite DIL, I doubt either of them will let her become another Kate Dolittle.
and some of those things that have become such big deals when Kate does them – like give a short speech – will be very par for the course for Meghan, IMO. She is going to approach the role and the workload very differently than Kate did.
Is there a chance that Meghan is responsible for these ill turn water into wine stories?
No, why would Meghan set herself for failure or criticism when it doesn’t come to pass? Meghan should know better than anyone that she doesn’t have the privilege to get away with half of the stuff that Kate gets away with.
Bea, is she really above getting her PR people to send out these stories? The media interest is high, and Meghan is probably not thinking about failure at this point. Moreover, Kate’s People magazine keen articles have always been suspicious.
Since the media interest is high, Meghan doesn’t have to feed it with stories like this. It seems most of the stuff that is written about Meghan turns out to be false anyway.
They should be able to do both. They can still pursue their personal causes as well as open hospitals, cut ribbons and unveil plaque.
The problem with the younger royals is that they don’t want to do as much work as the other royals. They look for excuses to ditch standard royal duties by focusing on just their pet projects. It’s pure laziness and I hope Meghan does not fall into this trap.
She’ll fall into line with the other three. She’s fallen into line with everything else so far. No need to work hard when the royal PR will build them up anyway. And Meghan’s PR pre-BRF did the same for her. She did very little charity wise but it’s been built up to be a huge body of work. If you look through the dates and events, it’s mainly PR. Meghan does have a history of hustling hard to find paid work and she brings that to the table. But the reality is that William, Kate and Harry have diddles along for years doing little and being talked up.
I think the difference is that Meghan has a history of working and Kate didn’t when she married. The idea of Meghan committing to causes and working doesn’t contradict the way she’s been in her life up to this point. I don’t think she’s a miracle worker, but she doesn’t need to be. She needs to do her prep, show up and be interested. It really isn’t a high bar, but it’s been painted as a mountainous one over the past seven years.
And Kate got a three year grace period from me where I defended her before I realised that it was a pattern! Such a disappointment.
Lol at these OTT articles. As long as Meghan does not try to outshine Charles, she will be fine. The money the Royal Family gulps is not commensurate with the “work” they do. If it was commensurate, the Royal Family won’t always get salty and start disinformation campaign when people question the appropriation of funds. It should open it’s books to external auditors and let the UK taxpayers know how well they have spent funds.
@Nelll OHHHH good one.
“as long as Meghan does not try to outshine Charles”..
yes yes.
Well I guess she better not then. I never had this thought on my own but it makes sense.
BTW this article is basically what all the mags were saying about WIlls and Kate when they married. That they want to be “normal” and “work hard”.
I think it is a regular PR article.
I hope it is not a sign of things to come (think Prince and Princess Keen)
The money the Royal Family gulps is not commensurate with the “work” they do.
—————————
Amen to this! What a bunch of grifters, every last one of them.
Exactly. Unaccountable grifters. the lot of them.
Unfortunately for Meghan, she will not have the same grace period that Kate got because William and Kate squandered all that goodwill, so people are wary. The PR from the palace is out of control; way too much build-up of Meghan when she hasn’t done anything much yet. She needs to come through to make her “boots on the ground” comment mean something otherwise it will come back to haunt her.
Press were saying H+M were foregoing their honeymoon to work, turned up at a garden party for a short while on 22 May, then… crickets. No-one would begrudge them a honeymoon so why not just have one? I think they will be a couple who vacay a lot.
The Windsors will make sure that she knows her place and stays in it otherwise the Markles treatment of her will look like child’s play when the Windsors get done with her. Harry will always choose his family over her.
Jesus, what a threat. Why would the Windsors – whoever that is – do something like that? And Harry would never choose his family over her.
You seriously don’t know who the Windsors are?
@LAK I know who the Windsors are but who of them would get at Meghan and Harry? Charles? William? Please.
What makes you think pressure needs to come from Charles or William? The Windsors are a firm. An institution. Anyone who threatens the firm is jettisoned.
They married 12 days ago and are on a short honeymoon I assume, they have not even started yet and people are outdoing each other in doom prophecies. Can we just wait, maybe 6 months and see what happened? The people who are talking about their failure are in most cases also the ones who wanted to stop the wedding.
What we know is, that they gathered information and visited several charities, spoke to survivors and victims.
Yes, Windsor is a firm, but if they don’t have anyone on the top anymore what are they going to do? One of the courtiers will proclaim himself King???? Do you believe that Charles, in case Meghan is pushed out, which means Harry is gone too, will run the firm alone with William? And that William will run it all by himself?? I doubt it very much.
LOL You really think Harry would give up his cushy lifestyle for her if it came down to that decision. I got a bridge I can sell you.
Please you have your opinion and I have mine.
Why is it important to you, that this marriage fails?
Claudia: History is not on their side on that point. Monica’s points are the reality regardless of their true love.
Well, my opinion is, that Charles as well as William were told to get married. Let’s say gentle pressure was applied on both of them. Harry on the other hand wanted to get married, he just had not found the right woman. He said, when he saw Meghan, he knew straight away that she was the one. Remember in that engagement interview when Meghan referred to him as her future husband when he got the shivers, he shook himself and said something like, god that sounds so fantastic. He wanted all his life to have a person very close to him, he wanted somebody to love. This especially since he lost the first woman who was very important for him. I tell you forget History, Harry will kill if somebody tried to take Meghan away. If he has to choose between the firm and Meghan, he will always choose Meghan.
Claudia: That may be true, but he has already asked her to give up aspects of herself rather than fight the firm…..which is the original point Monica was making. The firm will make her fall in line. She’s already falling in line regardless of the PR about her. That’s how *they* roll.
@Lak
But don’t you think, even as Meghan ‘falls in line’ she, and Harry, will continue to push the the envelope? She seems like someone who needs to work and somehow will slip her agendas — women, children, the disadvantaged, etc. – into the Royal work just like Diana did with children with AIDS. Diana was the first to HUG a child with AIDS, that is a big deal even though the Firm allowed this to happen.
‘Falling in line’ doesn’t mean not working. Given her outliers, i think she needs to be consistent and frequently seen to work. And not just on the flashy PR events that WHK prefer. It’s her personal bug bear.
Whether she pushes the envelope outside of those lines is unpredictable. Her work aims are already covered by the other royal women so i don’t see how she can stand out.
The romance you have described is so sweet!! And completely unlike the reality of the royals. For pete’s sake, they pushed DIANA under the bus – much loved Diana! You think they wouldn’t hesitate to throw the American C-List actress with the crazy family under the bus?? My, how naive. And Harry would never give up his title, his money, his privilege for Meghan or anyone else. He just hasn’t shown a proclivity for any kind of work that would support him in the real world. LOL!!
Well, I see some people’s asses are still in flames over the marriage. Too bad, but the usual rants and ad hominem attacks won’t change the fact that Meghan (who is one cool cucumber, BTW) is now the Duchess of Sussex. And, if anyone is sweating over her new station in life, it’s the person who can’t set aside his/her unreasonable personal animosity and stop repeating the SOS that’s been discussed ad nauseum.
Well for all the reasons mentioned above, I conclude that Kate’s and William’s dolittleness are very justified. If outworking or outshining Camilla (the future consort) or Charles (the future king) would be risking lives, you know, having “the Windsors” come at you like fire and brimstone? I wouldn’t want to work either!!
That means Meghan is going to be just like Kate, do ver little since she can’t outwork Kate, who already does very little for fear of outworking Camilla, and all laziness will be justified IMVHO.
And since whatever little Meghan would have done is already covered by those that came before her, well, might as well just sit at home and spend the taxpayers money and do very very little or nothing at all!!!
Meghan will fall into line – she has thus far. Plus she knows what side her bread is buttered.
Cutting ribbons, opening hospitals, sitting on the board of a non profit, smiling faces, handshakes,and small talk is what the British Royals do. If she is hoping to make change in the Royal family or be independent from the firm, her ideas may not be welcomed by the Royal family. I just read the Royal family must remain apolitical, that is how they have survived all these years. They don’t even vote in elections or support candidates or even attend fundraisers for a candidate.
They are political upto a point. It depends how they handle an issue, and how public it is.
The current Queen has chosen to be absolutely publicly apolitical and the public has taken that to mean they can’t be. To be fair, her strategy is how the family survived the reigns of her father and uncle.
Everybody who came before them was openly involved in politics in different ways.
I think Charles will be a King in the mold of earlier constitutional monarchs rather than the silent model of his mother and grandfather.
She’s chosen to be apolitical in the UK, but she’s been an active member/meddler in the Commonwealth.
Nota: Are you following the kerfuffle in Australia regarding her correspondence with a GG in the 70s that allegedly imply she effectively dismissed the elected PM of 1975?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/10/whitlam-dismissal-historian-appeals-decision-to-keep-queens-letters-secret
I admit, I’m finding these tidbits about her true role and behavior in The Commonwealth fascinating.
That was a huge issue in Oz at the time of the dismissal of an elected government and her involvement is still unsatisfactorily explained. The Queen could have made the correspondence public, but has recently refused to do so. It resides in the Australian National Archives and should have been made available. Charles was also implicated in that correspondence. There is an embargo until at least 2027, and even then it can be stifled. The case is going to appeal. I don’t hold out much hope personally but it is fair that Australians know their full history. Nevertheless, it will provide fuel to the Australian Republican Movement when the republic issue is re-visited either after the Queen’s death or in the first term of a Labor government.
https://www.mup.com.au/books/9780522873016-the-dismissal-dossier
Meghan is use to working. Kate Middleton is not, so that is really comparing apples and oranges. Kate’s entire adulthood has been waiting for William. She has no career to speak of and no charitable work of her own.
Meghan was meeting with victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in secret- no one knew for weeks until the families started talking. I don’t get the concern for MM work ethic.
Meghan? Grenfell? Why?
That’s never been clarified. My assumption is that it’s a humanitarian listening exercise.
Right now, it’s a political hot potato which means listening is the only thing she can do until she figures out a way to help that can’t be interpreted as political.
Because it’s a tragedy and she was in London and wanted to go and talk to people who went through so much?
William joined the DIY SOS team for a special project supporting victims of the Grenfell Tower right before the wedding.
Namasta: I think William and Harry occasionally joining DIY SOS is a neat way of helping directly whilst sidestepping any political accusations. They worked on homes for veterans too.
Kensington palace is a stone’s throw away. She probably was sick of just sitting there.
Lak the fact checker. But if Charles get involved in politics, won’t he start having problems? There are predictions already that with Charles, the monarchy may me on ita last legs. My thoughts are that the royal family should be made to give public account of how they have used taxpayers money.
It depends on *how* he gets involved. As POW, he has much more leeway which will be constrained by the top job, but i don’t think he will suddenly shut up or follow his mother’s way of doing things.
Personally i think she’s been a bad Queen in the sense that she lacks imagination and has merely been a caretaker sticking to the rules laid down by her father, grandfather and great-grandfather until a crisis forces her to change. She hasn’t innovated or initiated anything like they did. At every turn, even where the rules are less staid, it’s others who have forced her to change. And this never changing, ostrich attitude was learnt and calculated by her mother who cautioned her never to rock the boat.
As for whether the monarchy will die under Charles, every indicator appears that way, BUT with few exceptions, the future reign of the incoming heir has always been dreaded and anticipated to be the end of the monarchy. The only certainty is that due to his age, it will be very short.
I think the Queen has earned a lot of respect by being stable and dutiful – perhaps the country needed that post-WWII? A bit of ballast after many years of turmoil. Yes, that approach lacks imagination but I think it’s also reflective of her character.
I’m not sure what you mean by her father/grandfather etc being innovative? Can you provide an example?
1. Her grandfather started the practise of awarding regular people with honours – this is the honour system that gives out OBE, CBE, Dame/ Knight etc. Her father extended this practise to ordinary people showing extra bravery – the George Cross + medal.
2. Her grandfather institutionalised the social contract the royals have with the public. Those ‘ribbon cutting’ events were his idea.
2b. Never forgetting the dynastic name change to ensure survival of the royal house and acquiescing to the most English name possible.
3. Her grandfather made the first Christmas address to the nation which became an annual fixture.
4. Her father, with as limited political involvement as he was allowed, managed the breakup of empire by supporting it’s refashioning into into a new organisation – the commonwealth.
5. Her great grandfather wedded the annual military parade in London Trooping the Colour with royal visibility. Ditto all the summer royal family events to show themselves to the public. This was in reaction to his mother’s 40yr seclusion which had turned the public against the family and increased attendance to republican events.
5a: They started accepting invitations to public commemorations and celebrations of ordinary citizens.
6. Her grandfather cutting down on the number of royals with one simple genius rule.
7. One of the little spoken about side-effects of the abdication is that her father became King, but had no money. He negotiated a deal with the govt that exempted him from tax. A deal she continued until 1992 when she was forced to do so.
These are, of course, major changes, but she follows them as rigidly as if we still live in those eras.
…but the system exposes her rigidity and lack of imagination when a crisis looms because it fails her and someone else has to provide the solution. Said solution is absorbed into the system and heavy duty PR is employed to make the public forget / overlook her failure whilst she’s credited with the innovation.
I’m new around here – are you an historian LAK? Or just a history buff? You certainly know your stuff!
I kind of think that we’re getting all of these stories because of the boost Meghan and Harry got after the wedding. They’re on their honeymoon and I’m sure they didn’t want too much time to go by without Meghan being in the news for positive reasons. These little stories keeps us thinking about her, while their honeymooning, which will no doubt lead to more intrigue once she returns and starts working.
I love Meghan but these articles building her up to be the next… I dunno, Mother Theresa are so extra!
It’s probably not a coincidence that her coat of arms features “communication” symbol. I’m sure the creators worked with her and she wanted to make a point by choosing the singing bird.
I think she wants and will try to be very vocal. She just might start to annoy the Firm with it after a while and Harry, as much as he is the romantic prince who is always on her side, is first and foremost the son of his family and the member of the Firm. I can see how her insistence on being different (as in “better than you”) might backfire after a while.
Hi Rhys,
Do you really think Meghan is insisting on being different (as in “better than you”)? I’m asking because I really don’t get that vibe from her, I think she is trying very much to be herself while learning all the rules, regulations and traditions of her new in-laws (which can be daunting even without the world watching) and new “job”.
Meghan is an actress she is used to working for firms (USA/NBC UNIVERSAL) and walking the line. We all do it. She’ll be fine
Let’s all wait and see how Meghan does in the coming year, she is learning the ropes, sure she will slip at times, due to being human.
I think at this stage she is wary of the press, she is still figuring out who she can trust.
By the causes she supports in her royal capacity she will express her activism, I suspect. Rather like Diana.
@Lak, when Charles becomes king can you explain what he intends to do when it’s said he wants to run a lean monarchy? What happens to Andrew Edward, Anne, Sophie, do they go get regular jobs?
We can’t be sure that he will follow through on his intentions, but if he does, then yes, his siblings and their spouses will be removed from any public duties.
Whether they go get regular jobs is upto them, but don’t forget that they have trust funds and are personally wealthy. They don’t have to get jobs to survive unless they live extravagantly. Their kids will be encouraged to get jobs or marry wealthy.
This is the eventual fate for Harry and Meghan too.
That said, H&M won’t be excluded for some decades because William’s kids won’t start duties until they are 20something/ 30something depending or not at all if they emulate the parents.
H&M’s kids will be raised without expectations of royal duties.
I have a couple of thoughts about this question (I know you didn’t ask me Nellyy but this topic interests me 🙂 ), first – in order for Charles to have a slimmed down monarchy he must have members that actually attend engagements as well as country fairs, hospital openings, etc, so far his sons have had a very lackluster work ethic. Secondly, it would make no sense to stop Edward, Sophie, Anne or Andrew from attending events for patronages that they’ve long held, it would probably be wiser to let them continue until they decide to retire. Thirdly, a slimmed down monarchy would result in less public funds available, the government isn’t going to continue paying it’s current Sovereign Grant of 15% if there are only 6 working royals, that would make absolutely no sense.
Harla, a slimmed down monarchy is welcomed, but there has been no equivalent discussion that taxpayer funding will be reduced to reflect this change.
Successive govts don’t seem interested in reining in royal spending. They increased the grant to 25% without mention of the annual Palace maintenance sum therein received since her reign began.
A few years ago, parliament looked into the Royal Household overspend and decided that she was merely poorly advised, and didn’t pursue it any further.
The Queen regularly cries poverty when one of her slush funds is near empty which generates those ‘Queen down to her last million’ headlines which is when existence of the slush funds is exposed. Parliament simply rolls over and tops them up.
Only John Major’s govt had the balls to review and follow through on royal fiscal responsibility which resulted in their paying tax for the first time, took away their toys without replacing them eg yacht, opened the palaces, The royal collection was created so that they could generate income for maintenance.
…but it isn’t entirely hopeless, there was firm pushback on Charles’s attempts to have the duchies transferred to the family’s private ownership.
By the time the Queen dies I think Andrew, Edward and Sophie will practically be at retirement age. Edward and Andrew probably have only 10 years left till retirement (unless they decide to raise the retirement age for regular people by the time they’re 65).
What happens to Harry and Meghan is a bit curious, I think, since Harry has been so well-known since he was a kid because of Diana.
I figure the only reason the Queen is still at it is because, well, she’s the Queen (she has to be seen to be believed and all that.) I assume the same sense of duty applies to Charles as King. The rest of Charles’s siblings….well, they’re kind of getting up there anyway. What happens to Harry is what I’m a bit confused about. I just can’t picture him getting a regular job, but maybe he doesn’t need to since he’s Charles’s son (as in, I don’t see Charles requiring him to).
@LAK Tony Blair took the Yacht, which is why he has probably never been invited to any royal events. That and his dealings with Diana.
It was John Major who made the decision to take the yacht and set the process in motion. The royals did a long goodbye that took several years before giving it up by which time Tony was in office.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1427992/Queen-blamed-Major-for-royal-yacht-fiasco.html
http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/about/royal-residence/decommissioning/
The BRF manages 3200 engagements a year, much of those the necessary bread-and-butter mentioned. 6 working royals doing roughly 500 engagements a year covers that number. Charles and Anne regularly put up those kinds of numbers, plus Charles does all of his big projects on the side (Prince’s Trust, Dumfries House, Duchy Originals). Completely doable if the younger ones Get To Work.
HM’s former private secretary publicly advocated for Charles to keep Edward and Sophie on as transition royals (letting Gloucesters, Kent, Princess Alexandra retire). He has since retired/been asked to move on, so the E&S advocate is gone.
Andrew is set for life, not only with the trust funds LAK mentions, but with his 75 year lease of Royal Lodge. Charles cannot kick him or the York sisters out, even if Andrew does 0 royal engagements. E&S housing is slightly less stable, as their lease only runs 50 years.
Sticky point is Andrew is a Counsellor of State and will be for Charles’s reign too. He is required to live in the UK for that, although Charles could try to cut him off from public engagements by replacing him with Harry and Meghan. If he centralises royal scheduling, he can eliminate Andrew as an official working royal.
Anne’s private residence, fixed up with taxpayer money, belongs to her. As long as she keeps working, the entire estate is secured with taxpayer money. Handy for Peter, Zara, and their families. Rent free and taxpayer-secured property.
As LAK writes, we’ve had rumors of the slim down plan but no matching proposed decrease in the 600 million a year the royals cost. And we’ve had Charles trying to convince the government to hand him Crown Estate, Duchy of Lancaster, and Duchy of Cornwall as private property.
She needs to be steady and consistent above all. At least in the beginning.
She can set the world on fire slowly. In the future.
How will she ‘set the world on fire slowly’?
Lots of ways. Establish a consistent work schedule. Focus on core duties first. Travel around the home country, meeting as many people as she can. Research potential causes thoroughly. Take her time with regard to setting up a Foundation to make sure it’s a good fit.
She will not set anything on fire, cause she won’t be allowed to overshadow others. Don’t delude yourselves.
C, she already worked 5 times more than KM did during their engagement periods. And no, that wasn’t because KM was already known so she didn’t need to work. All the public had seen of her was the decade of not working and spending 5 nights a week drunk at clubs with William. By publicly making promises she never intended to keep, KM made her own problem re her obvious workshy nature.
MM has started off strong, showing her work ethic. Hoping it continues.
William wasn’t a working royal when he and Kate were engaged, so can we stop comparing apples and oranges. And the working royal Harry is lazy as a sloth, so they are certainly not going to be putting their noses to the grindstone. It will be flash and show until they get more and better PR than Charles. Charles will then immediately put a stop to whatever is getting them attention.
And if you are going to continue talking about Kate out drinking in her 20s, let’s talk about racy grilling videos Meghan has done in her 30s. She is vamping it up all the way through.
Fair is fair.
Grilling video? Ha! There’s another commenter who apparently loves that video so much she can’t even put into words how much! In fact, I think she became so overcome with adoration of the Duchess’ performance, she was too flustered to find the link.
You want to talk about Meghan Markle doing her job for 15 years vs. Kate Middleton doing nothing but falling drunk out of bar, grooming, vacationing, and waiting for William to propose for a decade?
Let’s stop pretending that William *wasn’t* supposed to be working royal at the time of the marriage. Part of the reason he kept dragging his feet about marrying her for a decade, other than wanting to find someone else, is that he kept talking about wanting to “put off his destiny”.
He knew the minute he married, the requirement/expectation would be that he get to work as a royal. Just as his father did when he left the service at 28. Hence the promises from Katie Keen in the engagement interview that she was so prepared, going to hit the ground running, etc. Lies for the public.
A day or two after the wedding we got the press release that she wasn’t going to work. She was going to be a full-time housewife in Wales completely with four staff including cook and housekeeper. William publicly yanking his family’s chain and using the press to do it.
Prince Philip’s 90th birthday interview was a barely disguised plea for W&K to step up so he could retire. They kept playing the “run away to Wales” “oh be a helo” pilot games. Apartment 1A plus Amner was for them to be official in London, no excuses. In the midst of that $7 million taxpayer funded re-do? William pulled the EAAA stunt on them without warning, shown in how much PR scrambling took place to cover up him refusing to step up for another 3 years.
The Malta Lie is a lie. There was no 2 year grace period. Most of the royal team are pensioners who want to retire. W&K refused to do their jobs from day one.
So by ‘setting the world on fire’, she’s basically going to start by doing her job!
I know there’s some major MM idolatry on this forum, but I’m almost feeling sorry for the woman. The expectations placed on her are unrealistic to put it politely. Most people in the UK had never heard of her before she starting dating Harry.
I’m all in favour of the BRF experiencing a shake-up BTW. Time will tell if it’s Meghan who is the instrument of change.
A WOC gets a small bit of praise after 18 months of racial and sexist attacks and people are already ‘tired’ of a few positive articles post-wedding. This is her honeymoon period and I’m enjoying it; for white people the honeymoon period never ends. In a few months she’ll be too American, too loud, too black, too white, too slim, not slim enough, too fake, too talkative, too open, too private, etc. This will play out the exact way it did for Michelle Obama.
It’s not a small bit of praise. It’s a veritable fusillade of over the top coverage.
However, she may live up to it, or at least a lot of it.
No it really isn’t. They are just capitalizing off of the moment because people are intrigued. Like I said people aren’t use to WOC receiving praise so when they do it’s a shock to the system.
People Magazine is a bit fluffy so this isn’t out of the ordinary for them.
WEll, Jessica, it’s all over, not just in People. I don’t know about most people, but I am hardly shocked at a WOC getting praised. I love it. But I like it to be tinged with some realism, otherwise it’s a darn long way to fall.
Of course they are capitalizing on the moment!
True. This is the other side of it. Don’t stand out too much, don’t shine too bright. Kate was promoted to us even more strongly than Meghan.
What does any of this have to do with Meghan being biracial? I think your complaint is a stretch. It’s that the PR is over the top absurd.
What jessica is saying is completely true and not a stretch at all meghan has gotten negative press up until this point . And as soon as a article that a little bit positive people all over this thread are finding way to make negative digs at Meghan for no reason whatsoever. As woman of color we all knew this would happen eventually
I’m as much a royal fan as the next person, but let’s be real, royals don’t really accomplish anything. Ceremonies ARE their role. They’re not advocates in a deeper sense since they can’t actually lobby government. Sure, they can draw attention to an issue, but is it really the case that people aren’t already aware of these problems? Markle will probably be somewhat vocal on women’s issues, so that’s great. But she’ll be mostly leading a life of luxury and baby making like all the others. Her PR campaign right now is a bit sanctimonious.
Tell that to the 800,000 people in the UK who received job training or started their own businesses with microfinance loans from The Prince’s Trust. Idris Elba being one of them. Maxima’s work with microfinance for the UN. Invictus Games, which Harry fully acknowledges he stole from the US. The refugee school from the Lux royal family. Princess Charlene’s anti-drowning Foundation which has reached 300,000 people in 5 years.
Royals need to do a mixture of bread-and-butter and big ticket items (Prince’s Trust, Invictus, etc.). They *can* accomplish big things. Things that would not happen if there wasn’t a royal there, behind the scenes, making it happen, pressing the flesh to get donations, and getting people to pay attention.
@notasugarhere : Could not agree with you more!
Royals can do a lot of things, if they are willing.
And people, please lets not pretend that Royals or Meghan or even any other celebrity out there who is involved in charity work, changes any policy anywhere. These people are not policy makers. They can shine a light of a cause and influence change, sometimes the change is short time sometimes long term, but they don’t necessarily change laws or policy. Meghan in her role as an ambassador to the UN and to WVC never attempted to change any policies or laws in Canada. She did a charity stint for the US armed forces in Afghanistan, that was not an attempt to change any policies regarding the men and women in uniform. Why are we even discussing how Meghan won’t make any policy or way changes because she can’t involve in politics? Geez, even policy makers can represent their constituencies for years yet have nothing to show for their work in the house or senate for all those years. People need to take this down a notch or 2.
She will not be allowed to outshine the rest of the royals especially the heir to the throne and his wife. She will have to fall in line otherwise she ends up a Diana. People don’t understand British royalty is about the crown – its integrity/reputation as a whole – not about the individuals. She will for sure quietly go about her charity and activism with pops of press ones in while. First things first, she needs to have babies, Harry wants that. If she can’t have them, there might be a problem or… not. Depends on how eager is H to have them.
She already worked 5 times more than KM during the same engagement period in their lives.
Charles needs his core slim-down royals to work. A lot. If Meghan is willing to do that while getting Charles ‘on side’ personally and professionally? Charles will welcome it and her work ethic.
“otherwise she ends up a Diana” as in dead like her or…..?
Divorced.
I meant divorced and a heavy target to bad gossip – she wasn’t really liked by the royals for taking up so much space in the press and being so popular, more popular than all of them together..
I have a good gut feeling about Meghan, but only time will tell.
She seems to be competent, warm and more interested and aware than Kate.
Kate doesn’t seem to be just lazy, but genuinely uninterested and lacks that “TOUCH” that Diana had and Meghan seems to have with people.
I think that Meghan will be much better at royal work than many other royals.
MM also comes from a different background, she volunteered on Skid Row as a kid and wrote that letter about the dishwashing soap commercial.
I think Meghan already shook up the monarchy, by being bi-racial and marrying one of the more prominent members of the BRF.
She is only one person, she can’t change the world on her own, but she can certainly try to do good things and I think she will.
I’m an unapologetic Meghstan and in my normal, everyday life, I’m exceptionally realistic, honest, and perceptive. I’ll admit, I drank the Kate Kool-aid in the beginning and really believed the keen stories. After the first 2 years, I believed that they didn’t want Kate to outshine others, they wanted to give her time to ease into the role but she has never stopped easing into the role. The only time we saw her truly attempt to be keen, was when Meghan came on board.
Now, we have Meghan and this time feels different. Of course the royals will expect her to fall in line, BUT, Meghan represents more of the UK, than the stiff, rigid, senior totals do. That family needs Meghan so that the public stays interested and doesn’t want to abandon the monarchy.
In the back of my mind, I’ve always had doubts that the monarchy would be around for George to rule, now, I think they might be. Id be really surpised if the royals dont know the goldmine they have with Meghan now.
Wow!!! Meghan will singlehandedly save the monarchy!! She sure is amazing!!
you left off two exclamation points.
Right !!so true!!!!!!! ditto !!!!!!!!!!!! (I had to made up for the exclamation points ;d)
Meghan had apparently said to a friend soon after her relationship with Harry began that together they would change the world. Maybe someone should tell her that she’s just joined one of the most conservative and apolitical institutions in the world whose existence relies on not rocking the world, belief in hereditary privilege, power and superiority of other human beings born into certain families.
Her biggest contribution to change is the fact that she was allowed to marry into that family. And the beautiful wedding she helped organize. Even I became a convert, for only one day.
@ Pimo “Meghan apparently told a friend” lol. That sounds legit, but this is a gossip website after all isn’t it.
A friend said this on record, so not exactly gossip.
“As Meghan told Gina at the time, with Harry by her side, they could change the world.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5589993/Meghan-Markles-friend-Gina-Nelthorpe-Cowne-reveals-Harry-romance.html#ixzz5H8BcIGnp
So I said would instead of could. But she had also said “Harry by her side”!
I liked what one British historian pointed out. He said people that marry into the royal family need to remember that this family has survived over 1000 years, and whoever comes in is JOINING and will not revolutionize it. Even Diana who was beloved made changes, but the family is still in charge at the end of it all.
Exactly! But people prefer to project their own dreams instead of staring at the naked truth.
MM is likeable and we can relate to her because she is like most of people, worked, dreamed, comes from a simple background AND have a lot of traits we were made to expect in a romantic comedy: pretty , independent etc.
So this feels for a lot of people like a “real life romantic comedy “.
BUT
… at the end she entered the RF, she will fall in line and do whatever the RF will want. That’s the deal otherwise , no marriage… or a very miserable life for her.
The RF is an institution that has survived everything, absolutely EVERYTHING.
Ps: my GAWWWD to a lot of comments, the thirst for the “princess dream” is real !
And not everybody who defends Meghan has a princess dream. 😀 You see, I have these half siblings, 13 and 12 years older than I am, and they both are not very nice. Especially my half sister is a psychopath. I have come to that conclusion because some of her actions cannot be explained. I loved her and I always wanted to achieve her acceptance and sometimes it looked like she finally would like me and then she did or said something, which left me speechless and totally hurt. Oh yes, and she loves money.
@claudia Remm: “And not everybody who defends Meghan has a princess dream.”
of course! As I never implied defending MM= princess dreams.
As you can defend someone who is objectively likable… but I don’t know stay still in touch with the reality (I am not talking about yours personally, but more in a general way on this thread)
But man some comments are in full fairytales/ out of touch/ distorted reality mode !!
My 6 years old little cousin could have actually made some! so woooaaw to those!
PS: I am really sorry about your crappy siblings – hugs- and some more hugs 🙂
Diana was beloved by some, reviled by others, and ignored by millions. As time goes on, far more people get distance and understand she wasn’t the PR image she projected. The Cult of Diana is dying, thank goodness.
I suspect she’s smart enough to understand that and she doesn’t need to revolutionize anything. They’ve fallen in love, gotten married, and with that marriage comes a job. She’s not adverse to that and has gotten to work doing what royals do (whether or not some of you value or count that as work).
She now has an enormous platform if she chooses to use it. It appears she already has HM liking her and being her dog sitter and her mom has been welcomed by Charles and Camilla. This isn’t a fairy tale or a Disney movie, it is a job with a family firm. Thus far, she (like Sophie) is getting in good with the power players.
MM wanted to marry big and marry loud, and she did that. She reached the top tier and she’ll be happy with that for about a decade or so, or until the marriage cools. I think she is gorgeous and full of charisma, but the saviour vibe being laid on her is so…odd. She strikes me as very human, full of good and bad, so the worship is disconcerting.
Big and loud? Well the wedding of William and Kate was big, really big. The Clooney wedding was big and loud, really loud. But the wedding of Meghan and Harry was neither big nor loud.
Some of the guests were loud that’s true. Maybe you should take a closer look at Meghan. Have you ever noticed that the jewellery she wears is tiny, small and delicate? Apart from Diana’s Aquamarine ring of course. She never wears clothes which scream look at me. She chose this pale rose dress, shoes and hat for her first garden party. Pale rose is a colour I would simply not notice, if I shop for a dress. Meghans wedding dress was by itself totally undecorated. And the veil by itself with the tiny embroidery did not really hit the eye. Even the tiara was small and also unflashy. But putting the three together plus Meghan, that was an incredible picture. Even the flowers of the arch on the entrance door were not flashy at all, rather pale. But the whole picture was just stunning and I think Meghan has an eye for compositions like this.
They had a very short ride in a carriage through Windsor which also cannot be compared to the one of William and Kate.
I find your attempt to demonize her much more disconcerting.
Meghan knew how to hussle before andI think she hasn’t forgot that. I think she does mean to do good. For me, she is changing the world because she’s expanded the idea of who can access these highly visible positions. I mean that wedding, who would have predicted that pastor or choir! Is she an outlier? Maybe, but nevertheless an important one. She’s an actress so she understands that this is the role of a lifetime. I think she means to turn in an Oscar winning performance and I mean that in a good way,