The Royal Family #39

[Boring Monday]

The reality is I just don't think Meghan had the right personality to marry the spare, that's not a criticism or bad thing, just reality. You get people like Sophie or even Anne and to be honest probably Kate if she was honest who are happy to play a supporting role, do their own thing, stick to what's expected in return for a quiet and pampered life. Then there are people like Meghan who are more ambitious and driven and who strive to be the best, the top dog etc. The world wouldn't work without both types of people but the latter was never going to work in what could only ever be a supporting role.

The fact is though Harry didn't prepare her anywhere near enough. From reading Spare it was clear she only visited him in the UK a handful of times before they got engaged so how could she ever have truly understood what she was letting herself in for. They split their time between London, Toronto and Africa and the time she did spend in the UK was mainly spent at Soho House and nights in at Nottingham Cottage...she never got to see how the trappings and protocol worked, she never got to watch from the sidelines like Kate did.

Let’s be honest, even people who grew up Royal Family adjacent, like Diana and Fergie and most the numerous suitable gals Charles dated/proposed to struggled with life inside it. It’s one thing having a bit of a google, watching a video and reading a book … it’s another to have to pick up all of the archaic traditions by osmosis in an instant or be prepared for ridicule and heavy sighing, Harry and Meghan were never going to have the privilege of time that William and Kate had purely because they were 20 or so years further down the line, so if they wanted a family they had to marry and if they were married then it was on the working royal treadmill (I know there was something about her being ‘allowed’ to carry on acting … which sounds very nice in theory but can you imagine the practice? The roles would have to be decided by committee and deemed appropriate for the sister-in-law of the future King. Basically limited to voice overs and a quirky American pathologist in Midsummer Murders. Nothing too controversial to scare the horses).

As for outfits, they’ve all had some stinkers. I remember my gran not talking to my mum (the was deemed A Very Good Thing and slightly disappointing when reversed) because mum, looking at The Queen said ‘those turban style hats suit no one’. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Angela Kelly, at least she gave The Queen a definitive cohesive style.

For Kate, I would say if you’re going to be retro and aspire to bring back a style era, go for the 1920’s/early 30’s Which would be a better fit for her body type. Not the 1980’s. Never the 1980’s.

 

[bubbadabut]

The reality is I just don't think Meghan had the right personality to marry the spare, that's not a criticism or bad thing, just reality. You get people like Sophie or even Anne and to be honest probably Kate if she was honest who are happy to play a supporting role, do their own thing, stick to what's expected in return for a quiet and pampered life. Then there are people like Meghan who are more ambitious and driven and who strive to be the best, the top dog etc. The world wouldn't work without both types of people but the latter was never going to work in what could only ever be a supporting role.

The fact is though Harry didn't prepare her anywhere near enough. From reading Spare it was clear she only visited him in the UK a handful of times before they got engaged so how could she ever have truly understood what she was letting herself in for. They split their time between London, Toronto and Africa and the time she did spend in the UK was mainly spent at Soho House and nights in at Nottingham Cottage...she never got to see how the trappings and protocol worked, she never got to watch from the sidelines like Kate did.

I agree with you. I'm just wondering what she strives to be the best at. Turning up for a strenuous shift of overdubs at the podcast studio? Filing lawsuits? Phoning the paparazzi? Winning meaningless awards from cronies?

It's a shame as she has has such a good education and is clearly smarter than the average royal. She could do so much with her status and credentials, but there's never anything of substance.

 

[elliebee27]

Meghan wanted to be famous and rich, so she tried multiple targets, and got Harry, so now she got the fame thing, still working on being super-duper-uber-rich, though. Long distance relationship, barely knew each other, she needed to snag her man and lock this down for a HRH title and the money she thought was coming her way (all those media deals they made before the wedding!!), and Harry was desperately in lust. Boom, recipe for disaster.

Kate 100% dresses like her mother. I always thought a big part of it was because I am sure they share. Carole has been seen wearing Kate's things before. (That and imo Kate has little personality. Any time she tries to do something unique she strikes out because she's vapid.) Sophie dresses more hip and cool than Kate.

 

[Eirawen]

What I find odd about Kate's style is it's so extreme. She either gets it bob on and I think FASHION QUEEN or she looks bloody horrific.

I do think that she was put on a bit of style pedestal when she first married Wills as the only young women in the royals at the time were Beatrice and Eugenie who back then dressed like cartoon characters and the royals and press were in desperate need of an attractive and stylish princess. When all you have to compare her to are Anne, the late Queen and Camilla she was always going to look like a fashion icon.

She has had some iconic looks but far less than I would have expected by now. It doesn't help that she's always expected to hit the same status as Diana in that field too

I agree none of the Royals were that stylish until Diana emerged and after her death Kate appeared to fill the role of the well dressed and stylish Royal lady. I think Diana was more daring and probably wanted her own way a lot of the time about what she wore, Kate seems more submissive and obedient and doesn't want to make the waves that her late Mother in law did.
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Meghan wanted to be famous and rich, so she tried multiple targets, and got Harry, so now she got the fame thing, still working on being super-duper-uber-rich, though. Long distance relationship, barely knew each other, she needed to snag her man and lock this down for a HRH title and the money she thought was coming her way (all those media deals they made before the wedding!!), and Harry was desperately in lust. Boom, recipe for disaster.

Kate 100% dresses like her mother. I always thought a big part of it was because I am sure they share. Carole has been seen wearing Kate's things before. (That and imo Kate has little personality. Any time she tries to do something unique she strikes out because she's vapid.) Sophie dresses more hip and cool than Kate.

Sophie is really coming into her own I think, seeing her dancing at the coronation concert was an eye opener she can really move!! The rest of them looked like puppets being controlled by arthritic puppeteers!

 

[Honeystar]

I do wonder what possessed Meghan to give up every single aspect of her life for a man she really hardly knew. I say that because they’d only been dating for what? 18 months? And that was long distance so the time spent together was considerably less than most couples at that stage. It’s one thing to get engaged but to give up your whole life, career, home, even the ability to just pop to the shops or out for lunch. The sceptic in me asks was it because she wanted the fame, the romantic in me wants to think she was just madly in love…

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

I never bought this either, I fully believe Harry didn’t prepare her though because he didn’t want her to run away. Kate and Williams 10 year relationship before marriage is a prime example that they learned from throwing Diana in the deep end the way they did. I think they didn’t coddle her the way she wanted and she mistook posh person, British coldness for uncaring.

I blame Harry for the whole debacle tbh. Whatever Meghan's motives were are debatable but Harry was fully aware of what was in store and expected. He really is thick as mince, incredibly selfish and spoilt.

 

[tarahalls]

I absolutely love Kate’s style! She always looks classy (although I’m personally not keen on her wide leg trousers) & I wear many of the same outfits she does. Unfortunately I don’t have her limitless budget or height but people often compliment me on what I’m wearing, I’ve certainly never been referred to as dowdy! She’s really nailed her look over the past maybe 18 months & I think she dresses beautifully for her role & figure. The problem Meghan had was she dressed for someone else & not her body & shape. I think she looked good playing her character in Suits & when she was swanning around in her care-free ‘The Tig’ days but she couldn’t dress for her pregnancy shape & post-pregnancy body changes. She tries to be edgy but it always looks messy because she needs a good tailor &/or a good friend who could guide her…& more often than not a bloody good steamer because her clothes are always crumpled

 

[jkroche95]

I do wonder what possessed Meghan to give up every single aspect of her life for a man she really hardly knew. I say that because they’d only been dating for what? 18 months? And that was long distance so the time spent together was considerably less than most couples at that stage. It’s one thing to get engaged but to give up your whole life, career, home, even the ability to just pop to the shops or out for lunch. The sceptic in me asks was it because she wanted the fame, the romantic in me wants to think she was just madly in love…

from first meeting to their wedding day it was less than 2 years!

 

[CuriousCat92]

Let’s be honest, even people who grew up Royal Family adjacent, like Diana and Fergie and most the numerous suitable gals Charles dated/proposed to struggled with life inside it. It’s one thing having a bit of a google, watching a video and reading a book … it’s another to have to pick up all of the archaic traditions by osmosis in an instant or be prepared for ridicule and heavy sighing, Harry and Meghan were never going to have the privilege of time that William and Kate had purely because they were 20 or so years further down the line, so if they wanted a family they had to marry and if they were married then it was on the working royal treadmill (I know there was something about her being ‘allowed’ to carry on acting … which sounds very nice in theory but can you imagine the practice? The roles would have to be decided by committee and deemed appropriate for the sister-in-law of the future King. Basically limited to voice overs and a quirky American pathologist in Midsummer Murders. Nothing too controversial to scare the horses).

As for outfits, they’ve all had some stinkers. I remember my gran not talking to my mum (the was deemed A Very Good Thing and slightly disappointing when reversed) because mum, looking at The Queen said ‘those turban style hats suit no one’. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Angela Kelly, at least she gave The Queen a definitive cohesive style.

For Kate, I would say if you’re going to be retro and aspire to bring back a style era, go for the 1920’s/early 30’s Which would be a better fit for her body type. Not the 1980’s. Never the 1980’s.

She was quite right on the turban hats, your mum. The worst were those big overloaded hats the Queen Mother used to wear. So fussy and unflattering.

 

[I'veloveditforyears]

Meghan also needed to sort out her bras. A lot of her clothes, particularly that strange green cape creation, had bumpy bra outlines showing through.
I still think that the skintight pregnancy clothes were unflattering and unsuitable for her role. She didn't need to go for the 1980s Princess Diana smock look, but Kate's maternity clothes skimmed her bump rather than clung to it. Meghan would have been better getting proper flattering maternity dresses from places like Isabella Oliver, rather than buying designer clothes in a larger size that did nothing for her and were never worn again.

 

[Spurgyrose]

I agree with you. I'm just wondering what she strives to be the best at. Turning up for a strenuous shift of overdubs at the podcast studio? Filing lawsuits? Phoning the paparazzi? Winning meaningless awards from cronies?

It's a shame as she has has such a good education and is clearly smarter than the average royal. She could do so much with her status and credentials, but there's never anything of substance.

Yeah she was kind of a disappointment. She started out with some really interesting initiatives that looked like she actually WAS going to modernise the monarchy, in some form at any rate, but they didn’t seem to go anywhere and then she just quit the ‘job’. Their failures at Spotify and Netflix (presumably) goes to show they have big flashy ideas but lack the capacity to actually make them happen. Which tracks as neither actually ever held a real job that would have given them those skills.

And personally I don’t think she’s all that smart, like any good American - especially an actress - she knows how to talk herself up.

 

[neroli]

I do wonder what possessed Meghan to give up every single aspect of her life for a man she really hardly knew. I say that because they’d only been dating for what? 18 months? And that was long distance so the time spent together was considerably less than most couples at that stage. It’s one thing to get engaged but to give up your whole life, career, home, even the ability to just pop to the shops or out for lunch. The sceptic in me asks was it because she wanted the fame, the romantic in me wants to think she was just madly in love…

Becoming a royal would be like securing the greatest ever acting role which would set her up for life? She'd be a real life Princess and would have servants bowing and scraping to her all day long if she so wished.

 

[thegirlscout]

She did struggle with the more formal affairs which did surprise me as well.

I think because she has the stereotypical laid back (rich) Californian style which isn’t bad but doesn’t translate well when it comes to Royal formal outfits.

 

[CuriousCat92]

Becoming a royal would be like securing the greatest ever acting role which would set her up for life? She'd be a real life Princess and would have servants bowing and scraping to her all day long if she so wished.

Although interestingly she didn’t like the RF version of bowing and scraping that she ended up with…

 

[Boring Monday]

Yeah she was kind of a disappointment. She started out with some really interesting initiatives that looked like she actually WAS going to modernise the monarchy, in some form at any rate, but they didn’t seem to go anywhere and then she just quit the ‘job’. Their failures at Spotify and Netflix (presumably) goes to show they have big flashy ideas but lack the capacity to actually make them happen. Which tracks as neither actually ever held a real job that would have given them those skills.

And personally I don’t think she’s all that smart, like any good American - especially an actress - she knows how to talk herself up.

The problem with the monarchy is that it likes the idea of modernising and pays lip service to it regularly …it’s just that it gets the twitches when it vacates the1950’s and has to dress a small child in an Edwardian sailor suit to steady the nerves.
It’s not so much the RF as such, but the staff who consider their family to be more royal than the actual royals and who have been running things behind the scenes for 500 or so years.

 

[Gilinskygirl]

I do wonder what possessed Meghan to give up every single aspect of her life for a man she really hardly knew. I say that because they’d only been dating for what? 18 months? And that was long distance so the time spent together was considerably less than most couples at that stage. It’s one thing to get engaged but to give up your whole life, career, home, even the ability to just pop to the shops or out for lunch. The sceptic in me asks was it because she wanted the fame, the romantic in me wants to think she was just madly in love…

She thought her life was a fairytale and was naive when she joined the royal wedding. It's evident in her own wedding speech. I think she expected to be loved by the public and the media from the get go but even Kate needed to work for their approval. It would have been even more difficult for an American, biracial, older, divorcee, actress who is estranged from her own family. I don't doubt Meghan is an intelligent woman but she had unrealist ideas of being part of the royal family. Harry did not prep her enough, which he does not get enough flack for, and probably promised her things which were out of his control.

 

[Scarlett O' Hara]

The problem with the monarchy is that it likes the idea of modernising and pays lip service to it regularly …it’s just that it gets the twitches when it vacates the1950’s and has to dress a small child in an Edwardian sailor suit to steady the nerves.
It’s not so much the RF as such, but the staff who consider their family to be more royal than the actual royals and who have been running things behind the scenes for 500 or so years.

Brilliant

 

[CuriousCat92]

With Meghan I was sympathetic for a while because I thought she came into it and had a similar experience to Diana (no help just left to fend for herself). But it did seem like they tried to put something in place with Sophie (I don’t know how sympathetic she would have found Sophie but probably the best fit from what they had available).

But at some point before she got married, Meghan said that people tried to warn her what the reality would be (friends etc) and she just ignored them (maybe even cast them out of her friendship group from what I understand?) for telling her how it was. They were proved right.

 

[Lammington]

I still think Meghan thought her life would be like a Hallmark movie - she would be the fresh, American girl who came in and all the fusty old Brits would change their ways when they saw how much better hers were. Given that she seems to have resisted royal "training" from anyone but Harry, and he seemingly made no effort to ensure she understood the decorum, rules, and protocols, he may well have had the same fantasy.

When you're imagining a modern fairytale and instead get awkward silences, unpleasant tabloid headlines, and are faced with the fact that there is simply no upward mobility in royal ranks, I can imagine the disappointment and the idea of it all being rather unfair can fester.

 

[jkroche95]

With Meghan I was sympathetic for a while because I thought she came into it and had a similar experience to Diana (no help just left to fend for herself). But it did seem like they tried to put something in place with Sophie (I don’t know how sympathetic she would have found Sophie but probably the best fit from what they had available).

But at some point before she got married, Meghan said that people tried to warn her what the reality would be (friends etc) and she just ignored them (maybe even cast them out of her friendship group from what I understand?) for telling her how it was. They were proved right.

Meghan and Diana were different. Diana was born on the royal Sandringham estate (as was her mother) and she grew up playing with Andrew and Edward. She even called Queen Elizabeth 'Auntie Lilibet' as a child. So she grew up knowing more about the royals that most.