The Royal Family #41

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I have always admired Duchess Sophie for quietly getting on with her duties and for representing the Royal Family so respectfully. Others could learn from her.
Err Duchess Sophie did not quietly get on with things ... she too was caught selling access to the Royals with the Fake Sheikh scandal. What she did do however, was disappear into the background and raise her kids, whilst continuing with charity work and has re-emerged as a saving grace to the Royals.

Whether you like William and Kate or favour Harry and Meghan, the reality is - William and Kate have successfully negotiated a managable level with the press and their children. Catherine takes the photos which get released - the press and nation are happy. Harry and Meghan could have done the same. The problem was - they were out for the highest bidder and it's annoyed everyone.

I have no doubt it must be awful being 'constantly' hounded by the press but lets be clear - none of them are out doing daily work - so put your work face on for the odd engagment and play ball.

I've been on these threads a while and I see as much dislike posted towards Katherine and William as I have for Harry and Meghan.

Edited : Suzesnooze - i see we said the same about sophie *-)
 
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Apart from the tabloid sting she fell victim to 😉
she learned her lesson from that and keeps her head down! Out of all of them, Sophie seems the warmest and kindest though. she’s like the older, capable woman at work who is no nonsense but is the first to notice when someone is feeling low or going through something and suggest they take the afternoon off
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Certain tabloids did criticise Meghan in a totally ridiculous fashion. There was a side by side comparison of Kate and Meghan coverage showing Meghan getting slated for doing or wearing things that Kate was praised for. No doubt though the pendulum would have swung the other way at some point. Many people think that Kate (and William) is lazy but there's no longer anyone to big up and compare so she seems to be getting away with it in the media at the moment.
that was a buzzfeed article which, at first inspection looks like insanely unfair treatment.

It’s an oft-quoted article which seems to encapsulate the double standard applied to Meghan. It’s the type of “gotcha” journalism which is low brow and unintelligent though.

It doesn’t really think through, just superficially compares headlines. Plus it contributes to the problem of Kate V meghan. In Spare, Harry pretty much references this same article, while simultaneously complaining about how Meghan and Kate were pitted against each other.

it’s also comparing press coverage with Meghan over a year or so compared to Kate’s press coverage across a decade. And the comparisons don’t bear much scrutiny. If someone wanted to check every single article written about Kate, the negative and critical ones would far outnumber meghans.

for example, the first one references Kate cradling her bump. The Meghan article asks if it’s a new age thing. The daily Mail have form for making subtle, indirect criticisms for sure. But it draws from the reality that Meghan was seen constantly holding her bump, drawing attention to it and angle it towards the camera. It’s not especially toxic behaviour but it’s very Hollywood, disingenuous and it’s not what’s expected from a monarchy. Meghan was using her pregnancy to garner sympathy, positive press for herself instead of just embracing the role out of genuine altruism. People just didn’t like that.

the article linking avocados with poverty and deforestation was ridiculous. But the stories bear very little similarity. William was gifted one, then there’s an article making obscure links with meghan eating them. The comparison doesn’t really hold and the article is so ridiculous it is barely worth noticing (but again, Harry brings it up in Spare)

conparing William and Kate setting up a company to protect their trademark v the sussexes… doesn’t hold up to the test of time. Because we now know H&M had most likely been planning to leave the royal family from early 2019, and setting up companies for trademarking their titles was a step towards monetising them. Kate and Wills - to my knowledge - have not done this. The actions were the same but the motives were not. I suspect the daily Mail probably had an inkling that this is what the sussexes were intending (to monetise their brand) from pretty early on.

the comparison between William and Kate being encouraging about talking about emotions vs meghan and Harry airing their grievances publicly isn’t a fair comparison at all. Neither have anything in common. Airing dirty laundry and complaining to reporters isn’t the same as having healthy conversations in trust.

etc etc etc.

When you go through the comparisons, a lot are either plain ridiculous or don’t stand up to much scrutiny at all. And none of these articles are particularly vicious or hugely critical. Critiquing meghans choice of flowers for her bridesmaids (while also pointing out others used them) is more ridiculous and silly than personal and scathing. Hardly the vicious mob Harry portrays.

if the sussexes weren’t so obsessed (and competitive) with the reporting on them, they’d have laughed that crap off and gotten on with their lives. But they are a couple obsessed with branding and personal image. They badly want to be seen as good and best, without actually trying to be fundamentally good or the best.
 
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The fact is that whoever Harry married, the press were always going to pit her against Kate. When Meghan first came on the scene there were plenty of articles referencing her glamour in comparison to Kate’s more conservative style. The pendulum was swinging in Kates favour for the 18 months Meghan was a working royal but I’ve no doubt it would have swung both ways over the years had all the drama not gone down.

Even just writing that it’s crazy to realise she was only a married working member of the family for 18 months. I mean, that’s no time at all considering she was off on maternity leave in that too. It’s hard to accept that they really did make a go of it and feels much more like they ran at the first hurdle
 
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The fact is that whoever Harry married, the press were always going to pit her against Kate. When Meghan first came on the scene there were plenty of articles referencing her glamour in comparison to Kate’s more conservative style. The pendulum was swinging in Kates favour for the 18 months Meghan was a working royal but I’ve no doubt it would have swung both ways over the years had all the drama not gone down.

Even just writing that it’s crazy to realise she was only a married working member of the family for 18 months. I mean, that’s no time at all considering she was off on maternity leave in that too. It’s hard to accept that they really did make a go of it and feels much more like they ran at the first hurdle
yeh IIRC meghan was presented as this glam American set to modernise the royal family, whereas Kate was always presented as a dowdy “Sloane ranger”.

her first engagement was in May 2018 at The garden party, their last was March 2020 (but they’d already announced they’d leave in January and it was more of a wrap up event, so in reality it was about 19 months). So yep, not long at all. She did 179 engagements over those two years. According to famous hobbyist Tim O’Donovan (who assess the royal engagements per year for the times)

considering it’s her main job, she worked on average then, 9 days a month. Or 2 engagements and a bit per week. Considering an engagement for Meghan could typically last an hour or two … she worked maybe 3 hours a week. Most of the work involved just… meeting people.

for example in January, she visited a Mayhew dogs home in the afternoon, as reported by the daily Mail. By 1pm they’d posted it on their socials and by 2pm the mail had written up a story on it. So in all likelihood she arrived at 12 and had left by 1pm, freeing them up to write up the visit on social media. That counted as one engagement.

apparently this was an exhausting visit for her because, despite beaming and smiling while there, and despite the positive story that was released… she was apparently suicidal and crying on the floor by later that afternoon.

she then went to that now-infamous cirque du soleil performance at the royal Albert hall - another engagement that lasted an hour or two, and involved her just … watching a show.

not bad work if you ask me. A fairly easy gig actually, especially considering the perks of a free, newly renovated mansion and generous clothes allowance.

she never had any real intention of sticking it out. She barely did any real “work” as a royal. She bid her time, got pregnant, had the baby and some free designer dresses and she was ready to wrap up. She got what she came for.
 
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The fact is that whoever Harry married, the press were always going to pit her against Kate. When Meghan first came on the scene there were plenty of articles referencing her glamour in comparison to Kate’s more conservative style. The pendulum was swinging in Kates favour for the 18 months Meghan was a working royal but I’ve no doubt it would have swung both ways over the years had all the drama not gone down.

Even just writing that it’s crazy to realise she was only a married working member of the family for 18 months. I mean, that’s no time at all considering she was off on maternity leave in that too. It’s hard to accept that they really did make a go of it and feels much more like they ran at the first hurdle
You’re right, anyone Harry married would have been pitted against Kate but Meghan is also not the typical woman that marries into the royal family. It’s a good thing they left tbh for the sake of their kids (haters can say all they want that their kids don’t exist but at least they are getting a private life). However they did go about it the wrong way. The Oprah interview and the memoir should have never happened. They should have pretended they are still on good terms with the royals and focused on their own work.
 
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yeh IIRC meghan was presented as this glam American set to modernise the royal family, whereas Kate was always presented as a dowdy “Sloane ranger”.

her first engagement was in May 2018 at The garden party, their last was March 2020 (but they’d already announced they’d leave in January and it was more of a wrap up event, so in reality it was about 19 months). So yep, not long at all. She did 179 engagements over those two years. According to famous hobbyist Tim O’Donovan (who assess the royal engagements per year for the times)

considering it’s her main job, she worked on average then, 9 days a month. Or 2 engagements and a bit per week. Considering an engagement for Meghan could typically last an hour or two … she worked maybe 3 hours a week. Most of the work involved just… meeting people.

for example in January, she visited a Mayhew dogs home in the afternoon, as reported by the daily Mail. By 1pm they’d posted it on their socials and by 2pm the mail had written up a story on it. So in all likelihood she arrived at 12 and had left by 1pm, freeing them up to write up the visit on social media. That counted as one engagement.

apparently this was an exhausting visit for her because, despite beaming and smiling while there, and despite the positive story that was released… she was apparently suicidal and crying on the floor by later that afternoon.

she then went to that now-infamous cirque du soleil performance at the royal Albert hall - another engagement that lasted an hour or two, and involved her just … watching a show.

not bad work if you ask me. A fairly easy gig actually, especially considering the perks of a free, newly renovated mansion and generous clothes allowance.

she never had any real intention of sticking it out. She barely did any real “work” as a royal. She bid her time, got pregnant, had the baby and some free designer dresses and she was ready to wrap up. She got what she came for.
Not sure about that. Maybe she was only there for one hour, but it’s not like she was there as her natural self. Also, she basically had „the whole world“ watching her every step and breath. Also, it’s not like she arrives with the tube, totally relaxed. She has to have bodyguards and all that stuff, that stresses you out. Just a few aspects of why this might not be AS chilled as it seems. Also the whole preparation, just for being there one hour. Must be all drowning and nerve wrecking if you ask me.
 
I do think there’s a lot more that goes into royal engagements than just the hour or two that they are there which is why I don’t necessarily think purely judging them on how often they are seen in public is a fair assessment of their work.

That being said, I struggle to see how people can repeatedly claim that someone who worked for 72 days in a role was such a hard worker and totally dedicated to the role.
 
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her first engagement was in May 2018 at The garden party, their last was March 2020 (but they’d already announced they’d leave in January and it was more of a wrap up event, so in reality it was about 19 months).
I forget how short their tenure was! Was she a working royal for only 19 months?!
 
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Yet she seeks to market herself as strong and resilient....when it suits her agenda, that is.
 
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They married in May 2018 and in November 2019 they took extended leave for family time. They came back to the UK in Jan 2020, did one engagement at Canada House to thank them for their hospitality whist they were there for the past few weeks, announced they were quitting and went back to Canada. Then they moved to America, came back in March for a final week of engagements and that was it.

Between May 2018 and November 2019 Meghan also went on maternity leave from April 2019 until around September 2019
 
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she learned her lesson from that and keeps her head down! Out of all of them, Sophie seems the warmest and kindest though. she’s like the older, capable woman at work who is no nonsense but is the first to notice when someone is feeling low or going through something and suggest they take the afternoon off
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that was a buzzfeed article which, at first inspection looks like insanely unfair treatment.

It’s an oft-quoted article which seems to encapsulate the double standard applied to Meghan. It’s the type of “gotcha” journalism which is low brow and unintelligent though.

It doesn’t really think through, just superficially compares headlines. Plus it contributes to the problem of Kate V meghan. In Spare, Harry pretty much references this same article, while simultaneously complaining about how Meghan and Kate were pitted against each other.

it’s also comparing press coverage with Meghan over a year or so compared to Kate’s press coverage across a decade. And the comparisons don’t bear much scrutiny. If someone wanted to check every single article written about Kate, the negative and critical ones would far outnumber meghans.

for example, the first one references Kate cradling her bump. The Meghan article asks if it’s a new age thing. The daily Mail have form for making subtle, indirect criticisms for sure. But it draws from the reality that Meghan was seen constantly holding her bump, drawing attention to it and angle it towards the camera. It’s not especially toxic behaviour but it’s very Hollywood, disingenuous and it’s not what’s expected from a monarchy. Meghan was using her pregnancy to garner sympathy, positive press for herself instead of just embracing the role out of genuine altruism. People just didn’t like that.

the article linking avocados with poverty and deforestation was ridiculous. But the stories bear very little similarity. William was gifted one, then there’s an article making obscure links with meghan eating them. The comparison doesn’t really hold and the article is so ridiculous it is barely worth noticing (but again, Harry brings it up in Spare)

conparing William and Kate setting up a company to protect their trademark v the sussexes… doesn’t hold up to the test of time. Because we now know H&M had most likely been planning to leave the royal family from early 2019, and setting up companies for trademarking their titles was a step towards monetising them. Kate and Wills - to my knowledge - have not done this. The actions were the same but the motives were not. I suspect the daily Mail probably had an inkling that this is what the sussexes were intending (to monetise their brand) from pretty early on.

the comparison between William and Kate being encouraging about talking about emotions vs meghan and Harry airing their grievances publicly isn’t a fair comparison at all. Neither have anything in common. Airing dirty laundry and complaining to reporters isn’t the same as having healthy conversations in trust.

etc etc etc.

When you go through the comparisons, a lot are either plain ridiculous or don’t stand up to much scrutiny at all. And none of these articles are particularly vicious or hugely critical. Critiquing meghans choice of flowers for her bridesmaids (while also pointing out others used them) is more ridiculous and silly than personal and scathing. Hardly the vicious mob Harry portrays.

if the sussexes weren’t so obsessed (and competitive) with the reporting on them, they’d have laughed that crap off and gotten on with their lives. But they are a couple obsessed with branding and personal image. They badly want to be seen as good and best, without actually trying to be fundamentally good or the best.
A lot of those articles are from the Daily Express as well and it's only the headline that has anything to do with Meghan. If you can't roll your eyes at a Daily Express article and move on with your day then you have no business being in the public eye.
 
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A lot of those articles are from the Daily Express as well and it's only the headline that has anything to do with Meghan. If you can't roll your eyes at a Daily Express article and move on with your day then you have no business being in the public eye.
I agree with you to a certain extent. A headline about avocados is not worthy of a second glance.
 
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Not sure about that. Maybe she was only there for one hour, but it’s not like she was there as her natural self. Also, she basically had „the whole world“ watching her every step and breath. Also, it’s not like she arrives with the tube, totally relaxed. She has to have bodyguards and all that stuff, that stresses you out. Just a few aspects of why this might not be AS chilled as it seems. Also the whole preparation, just for being there one hour. Must be all drowning and nerve wrecking if you ask me.
I think a personal chauffeur to drive you to the event and a security team to make sure you aren’t hassled whilst you’re there is a much easier and enjoyable experience, if you ask me.
 
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Have you read Sussanah Constantine's autobiography, 'Ready For Nothing', detailing the years in which she dated Princess Margaret's son - David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon...

Just...outrageous. She would 100% be cut off for this if Princess Margaret was still alive today...without a shadow of doubt.

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I do think there’s a lot more that goes into royal engagements than just the hour or two that they are there which is why I don’t necessarily think purely judging them on how often they are seen in public is a fair assessment of their work.
I hear what you’re saying but having worked for a senior VIP individual who had contacts with other VIP senior people - when they attend these functions it’s normally someone else who’s done the research, written the notes and prepped the individual.
 
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Not sure about that. Maybe she was only there for one hour, but it’s not like she was there as her natural self. Also, she basically had „the whole world“ watching her every step and breath. Also, it’s not like she arrives with the tube, totally relaxed. She has to have bodyguards and all that stuff, that stresses you out. Just a few aspects of why this might not be AS chilled as it seems. Also the whole preparation, just for being there one hour. Must be all drowning and nerve wrecking if you ask me.
meghan was used to working on a set though. Speaking in front of a camera crew of feasibly, hundreds of people. On a daily basis.

I’m sorry but I’m sure there are challenges in having to put on a facade and go chat to a group of ladies at the latest village hall opening, but realistically it’s still pretty light touch. The whole world isn’t watching - a group of photographers from the tabloids. Stress free from the tube?! Have you commuted via tube? In 10 years of living in London I don’t think a tube commute has ever been stress free.

Any royal doing this - would’ve been briefed before the visit (probably on the way there, in their private car with assistants and drivers and bodyguards). They’d be provided with red carpet treatment, arrive in whichever clothing they desired (in meghan’s case, a lot more designer and high brow than she’d ever worn before). They’d maybe deliver a speech (I think Meghan delivered a total of 4) which would’ve been mostly written by someone else in their staff.

when she’s had a few chats, cuddled a puppy or cut a ribbon, she’s then taken by private car back to her luxury central London pad or her mansion in the suburbs.

sounds like a very easy gig to me?
 
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Not sure about that. Maybe she was only there for one hour, but it’s not like she was there as her natural self. Also, she basically had „the whole world“ watching her every step and breathe. Also, it’s not like she arrives with the tube, totally relaxed. She has to have bodyguards and all that stuff, that stresses you out. Just a few aspects of why this might not be AS chilled as it seems. Also the whole preparation, just for being there one hour. Must be all drowning and nerve wrecking if you ask me.
Idk if you’re being sarcastic. What tube are you taking that makes it a totally relaxing journey? Having a chauffeur driven car to take me and pick me up from everywhere sounds miles better than public transport. And the prep for them is the same prep for anyone going to work, the hair and makeup was always pretty bog standard. The actual logistical work is done by someone else
 
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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.
 
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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.
Considering Apple TV+ didn't launch until a year after their wedding I dont see how.
 
Considering Apple TV+ didn't launch until a year after their wedding I dont see how.
Apple TV had been years in the making.

Apple entered into negotiations with TV studios as early as 2015. In June 2017 they hired Sony studio execs to oversee global programming and used the rest of the year to hire senior staff.

when Apple announced the launch of Apple TV
in early 2019, they also released promo material for shows already produced for the service.

in short; it’s perfectly conceivable that Meghan and Harry entered into deals with Apple TV before the wedding, or shortly thereafter.

a tv service of this nature isn’t announced and then they wait a few years while they build content (and interest dies out).

no, they build up programmes and services in advance of an official launch to generate interest.
 
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