The Royal Family #41

[cee-bee]

This the trouble when you tell “your truth” rather than the actual truth, you have to have a good memory to recall what you originally said!

Also Harry said he’d never repeat the conversation. Is that because if the general public actually heard what was said in context we’d all say “huh, is that it?!”

I’m strongly of the impression that Meghan totally blindsided Harry with a lot of stuff in the Oprah interview and in others.

The racism allegations with Oprah - Harry wasn’t actually there. It was all very dramatic. Meghan was sighing and looking upset. Oprah paused and looked shocked and aghast. There was a lot of theatrics. It didn’t look or feel genuine to me. It looked like an attempt to make it a dramatic as declaration as they could without providing any details or anything of substance. I don’t think Harry would have gotten involved in that type of public allegation. He’s since done a very messy backtrack in his interview with Tom Bradby. Meghan didn’t call anyone racist, the media did. Has he watched the same interview as the rest of us?! There was hardly any way to misconstrue the feeling and meaning behind that statement. Meghan sat looking pregnant and vulnerable and forlorn. She didn’t need to explicitly call them racist, it was heavily implied. How is he able to do the mental gymnastics to pin that one on the media?

It’s not the only time Harry has had to cover up for Meghan’s lies/inconsistencies or dramatisations. She also made the claim they were married in secret three days before. It’s the part of the interview when they are with the chickens. Meghan starts talking some bull about how they called up the arch bishop to marry them because they wanted their Union to be just for them. Harry notably says nothing and his head is down. He knows it’s all crap. So much so that he clears it up and clarifies in his book in Spare… he knew it wasn’t a legal ceremony, they just felt that they were getting married for them. Uh huh.

I’ve seen clips from their Netflix series where Meghan does an exaggerated curtesy and pretends she didn’t know she’d need to do one for the Queen. Harry notabley looks stiff and uncomfortable beside her. Again, he felt the need to clarify in his book that she did know how to curtesy because Fergie came out and quickly showed her.

Reading Spare, it struck me that Cressida sounded like the most emotionally mature relationship Harry was in. It was stable, it was sweet, it was honest. There were no theatrics, no magazine covers/interviews with Cressida capitalising on the fame. She was the first woman he felt safe enough with, emotionally, to cry. And he broke up with her.

sounds to me like Harry just wasn’t ready to deal with that outpouring of emotion. Humans are conditioned to stick to what is familiar, even if it’s toxic. Harry, I think, wasn’t used to the emotional stability and safety Cressida offered. It was unfamiliar territory. So he mistook it as her being the “wrong” girl for him and ended things.

sounds to me like Meghan gave him what he wanted - she appeased him and indulged him. She perpetuated the fantasies he wanted, where he was the maligned, wronged victim. Where theirs was the love story to end all love stories. And he was happy to go along with the delusion, because he’s a man child who isn’t ready to live in reality. Now that they are married, with children and hes isolated from friends and family - I think Meghan feels more comfortable in throwing out accusations and theatrics. I wonder how many more times Harry has to backtrack on her fibs before he starts to realise something isn’t right?

his wife has been very quick to throw his family under the bus. To capitalise on his family name and heritage whilst making nasty allegations against the same people. Does it strike him as a little unsavoury that instead of trying to foster as good a relationship as possible between him and his family (like most loving wives would do), or at a minimum support him emotionally in private at mourning the loss of family ties… instead Meghan is gleefully joining him in adding fuel to the fire. How does he not hear alarm bells?

 

[Great_Kate]

The money taken is given to projects like this. They don't keep it. They're also not doing 'we're just like you' stuff. They are raising awareness of the charities.

I think it's amazing when they do stuff like this. The publicity it generates for the charities is incredible. When William surprised the lady walking for charity for mental health issues the other day, all you could see in the timeline was where can I donate?

I thought it was lovely to see the kids there being helpful and it was a perfect way for them to help. One of the volunteers was saying 'your job is to pick toys that you would like to play with.

William and Catherine also make personal donations to these charities too. Catherine doesn't walk into the baby bank with a load of stuff but donations are sent and she has arranged for companies to give huge donations to baby banks across the country.

TTB thank you. There is so much misinformation out there on how those things actually work. Same with the sovereign grant. Not saying they don’t profit one way or the other but it’s not like as if Wiliam buys himself a new car with the unclaimed inheritance of someone. If anything the UK should be happy with those set ups. It might sound cynical but as long as the Crown holds the seabeds they are not sold on to the Chinese or Russians or similar. And the Crown can’t just make that decision to do so. China and other countries have been buying into European infrastructure BIG time. Privatising is not always a good decision in hindsight. Disclaimer: I am specifically referencing China ad they are the biggest foreign investor in formerly national managed infrastructure my country. It might be different in the UK.
The BRF are no saintly humanists who save the world out of the good of their heart. But they also aren’t the worst thing to deal with.

 

[Honeystar]

I do find it totally bizarre that in a show about the queen and the dysfunctional Windsors, by the end the villain or at least the worst character is bloody Carole Middleton.

Charles gets a redemption arc, the prince with a p**do pal is nowhere to be seen, nor are the Prince and his wife who tried to sell the family connections for profit (Edward and Sophie) and yet the worst and most unlikeable character is some random middle class woman who is depicted as a cold evil genius

Bizarre and I’d love to know what Peter Morgan has against a middle class woman who was born to coal miners and decided she wanted more…hmmmm

 

[Honeystar]

The thing, as has been discussed on this thread before, if they don’t share it then they get accused of doing nothing. Countless charities, including the baby banks featured in this video, have talked about the private trips and volunteering they do but people are often “yeah I don’t believe it” … then when they prove they’ve gone and use it as a way to raise awareness and encourage donations they’re slated for that too

 

[Isa_Drennan]

I thought thats why his mates nicknamed her "the mattress"?

What an utterly disgusting and misogynistic turn of phrase. Says much more about them than anyone else.

 

[Honeystar]

To be honest I never understand why a woman (any woman) is torn apart for being “boring” “bland” etc. God forbid a woman wants to be a stay at home mum these days, how dare she?! I mean, personally I don’t even want kids but why do we judge women who decide they don’t want to rock the boat, aren’t a big flashy character with tonnes of personality and outspoken thoughts and actively want to be “mum” and focus their lives around the kids?

If Kate had turned around and said she didn’t want kids, or was out there every day spouting her opinions she would be torn to shreds - I imagine the slightly boring and beige public character is a defence mechanism more than anything

 

[Curly Top]

Princess Anne is something else - a strong mixture of the best in both her parents.
It is remarkable that she is related to Prince Andrew.

 

[Honeystar]

It’s really special when you look at the tiny details, the finger food so it’s easier to eat, letting them hold the ends of the trumpet to feel the vibrations if they can’t hear etc, I’m not saying Camilla organises every detail of course but you can tell she’s a grandmother

 

[Doodlebug005]

Yet you have people believing these toys were 'pre loved'. Laughable really

What’s your proof they weren’t - and so what if they were new ? Am sure kids who get f*ck all will be glad of them-

 

[Blurp]

I think this has been the big change between the two monarchs, the late Queen was from a different time, Charles seems much more “modern” despite being 75 he seems to be somewhat with the times. It’s the small things, the selfies, the hugging, nail polish etc they were never strictly protocol more just preference of the monarch that they all aligned with out of respect for HMQ, Charles seems to have loosened the rule book

They know what other people's lives are like to a certain extent. QE never knew a life outside the rarified circles of royalty and aristocracy. Even during the war, after days of driving and motor mechanics, she had to sleep at Windsor Castle for security. As a navy wife in Malta, she was living in comfort without having to cook, clean or attend to her children. It's not surprising that Philip was the moderniser, kicking out at the courtiers.

Charles was sent to school both in Scotland and Australia, then served as a Royal Navy officer, eventually commanding his own ship. He was well respected, and Anne used to just turn up to see him in port without any fanfare. Anne, of course, mixed with other competitors during her riding career; apparently she was just as low key at home, being known to the local playgroup as "Peter and Zara's mummy". Camilla led the life of an upper middle class officer's wife, with connections obviously, but also dealing with everyday life. William had school, Operation Raleigh, gap year projects, university and the army and RAF, then Kate and her family; Diana also made sure that he understood what life was like the bottom too, taking him and Harry to homeless shelters when they were quite young.

So the upbringing of royals since Charles is pretty different from that of HLM, who was educated at home and even had a Buckingham Palace guide troop and Brownie pack created for her and Margaret. It's still radically different from the lives of the rest of us but they do have more of an idea of life beyond the palace walls.

 

[hannah123]

It’s weird The Crown can write a character of Carole - and from what I’ve heard, portray her in such a poor way - without any repercussions. She’s not a public servant, she didn’t work for them and get paid in public funds, so how can it be allowed that they can create such a depiction of a woman who is still alive, & that most people actually know fuck all about?

Michael Middleton must have been doing a lot of twiddling his thumbs in the 00s when his wife was doing all this scheming

 

[Em_gardener]

I think that's a bit harsh as well. I've never done anything majorly exciting in my life either but so what. She's a no drama person that likes family time by the sounds of it - there's a lot to be said for that. The only requirement for her job as a representative if the UK is to be nice to people and be politically neutral and she's good at that. What do people expect from the monarchy? They're not meant to be activists or political powerhouses. She could definitely work a bit harder but she's not going to last 60/70 years in the public eye if she's sharing all her inner most thoughts and opinions.

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

I think being labelled "boring/bland" these days means being predictable, solid, consistent and reliable. All perceived as negative qualities if you judge people by their social media output/carefully crafted PR persona but she's not an influencer or a reality TV star. She's a future Queen who rightfully maintains her privacy and dignity in my opinion.

I find her quite aspirational in that aspect. I’m fairly politically minded and opinionated, but I also know how unpalatable it can come across in certain situations. I find her public persona of being kind, friendly, ladylike and classic nice to see and quite an aspirational way to behave in todays society of Kardashian’s and everyone thinking they need to shout their opinions louder than anyone else.
She’s clearly accomplished in many ways, maybe no she doesn’t have a career but being the future monarch and maintaining a public role, I imagine keeps her busy in itself. She’s intelligent, clearly has hobbies/interests of her own. Can play piano, an interest in photography etc etc. She’s not exactly a terrible role model for young women today.

 

[coconochanel]

This shite is almost farcical at this point. As was William posing with his homeless pal three years in a row. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Ashamed of what, bringing awareness to a very good cause?

 

[cee-bee]

I’m glad someone has said this because I’ve said all along that I never understood the whole “Meghan was treated awfully by the press” narrative because she wasn’t.

Yes there were a handful of headlines that had racist undertones (the exotic DNA etc ) but I vividly remember the rest was gushing, in fact I remember thinking fgs she’s not the second coming why are we acting like a woman shutting her car door should be applauded.

I never saw how she was “thrown to the wolves” as she claimed, instead there started to be genuine criticism over their behaviour and treatment of the press/seeming disdain for their position and tradition

If you look back over the tours, South Africa and Australia for example, the press was glowing

There WAS perhaps more stronger critique on social media, which was partly a sign of the times, but also Kensington Palace issued guidelines for the first time ever over comments and what they would and wouldn’t tolerate suggesting that actually, the palace was protecting her from the stronger voices of critique and abuse

yep. One thing Harry can’t see to grasp or acknowledge is… the press just got fed up of them. Long after the general public was done.

In October 2019 they were enjoying great press on their South Africa tour …however a newspaper had published Megan’s letter to her father earlier that month IIRC.

they set up an interview with Tom Bradby - someone who has an established, good relationship with the pair.

instead of embracing the good press, instead of promoting their cause or the tour or highlighting the continent Harry claims to love so much.. Meghan complained. About the royal family. Because they didn’t ask if she was OK. In a show of breathtaking self absorption and narcissism. From the woman who’d thrown her father to the wolves and hasn’t visited him since heart surgery.

that was only a matter of months before they left the royal family… and to be honest I think the dislike and mistrust of Meghan has only grown from that point.

it was unhinged, inappropriate and deeply unpleasant, to complain about her alleged mistreatment while on a tour. She complained whilst in Johannesburg, one of the most unequal cities in the world, with widespread poverty, homelessness and joblessness.

it was a complaint that should’ve been raised internally, but instead she abused the platform she was given to make it about herself and her own grievances.

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

Jeez, damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
I wouldn't want to be in their shoes for one day.

People behave like if we didn't have a monarchy, the money saved would make everything else in the country ok. Obviously if we get rid of the monarchy then the NHS would run perfectly, homelessness would disappear and energy bills would be pennies.

 

[elliebee27]

She never intended to stay - they were negotiating deals with Apple, Oprah, etc before their wedding. She wanted the title, cash and to bolt to LA and make a name for herself in Hollywood. He wanted to be more important than anyone else, and hates anyone calling him out on his problems, his racism, his idiocy, his behavior, the palace PR machine worked wonders convincing so many of Hero Harry when he's an overgrown manchild. If it wasn't Harry Meghan would have found some other wealthy man but she's a royal duchess now and her kids she seems to give zero fucks about are prince and princess.

They never gave it a chance because they didn't want to, and I think Meghan weaponized Harry's paranoia and hysteria about his mother playing him like a fiddle to get what she wanted.

 

[Great_Kate]

Looks staged to me

Of course it is? He was there to specifically meet her. Nothing spontaneous about it. That’s Wiliam at work, not just aimlessly wandering down the street. I don’t know why anyone would assume otherwise. The way he goes about it is what makes the difference that was discussed. And his security was there - just out of shot.

 

[Honeystar]

How lovely

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

I’d disagree. She is pretty terrible as a role model. Not in the overt way like say, the Kardashians are.

but I’d say she’s bad in a more subtle way. What message does she send out? What does she inspire? Keep your head down, look pretty and marry well..? That’s exactly the opposite of what I would want younger generations to aspire to. Wait around a decade for a man to decide you’re worth marrying? Let him break up with you but only if his status is high enough and play mind games with him via the press if you can? Revolve your life and career around a man willing to dump you?

it’s just as bad as the kardashian’s money grabbing and exploiting women’s insecurities. It’s different, but just as damaging.

I’ve said what is good about her as a role model in my opinion. She come across kind, friendly, ladylike, and as someone who has hobbies and interests.
Plenty of women get messed around by men they love, whether they’re cleaners or well to do marrying into money. It doesn’t make you a bad role model. I think exacting standards for any woman are pretty anti-feminist. She’s made her own choices, she doesn’t come across as a bad person, she seems to be a good mother who wants to do right by her children.
And this issue with looking pretty. I love looking nice and getting a blow dry and going shopping. But I also have interests and opinions. It’s not black and white. There’s a famous French saying “pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés” - to live happily, live hidden. She can’t hide away due to her role in the RF, but she can present herself as she wants and not portray every side of her personality.
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I find it amusing that people who are saying we know nothing about her to know she has accomplishments or personality do seem to know exactly what was going on in her relationship and life when she was in her mid 20s to know she was waiting around to marry a Prince.
And as for accomplishments, since when is having a university degree, being talented (enough) at photography, piano, sports to do then with the whole world watching and not look a fool, and raise 3 seemingly happy healthy children not being accomplished ? There’s millions of women around the world doing far less and still very happy. Who also probably keep their political / controversial opinions to themselves.