If Prince Harry was currently single, we would have had a lot of fun with the fact that he and Monaco’s Princess Charlene sat together for the Saturday rugby match between Team England and Team South Africa. Like, we might have even hoped for a brief hookup between them – Charlene is so blonde and sad, and Harry has a touch of Captain Save-A-Ho-ism. Alas, Harry is not single right now. And Charlene didn’t look into it anyway. She was probably more into the rugby players. I will say this: while I don’t mind the fact that Charlene has short hair, I think she’s doing it way too short. It’s like she’s channeling Brigitte Nielsen. It’s very Princess Valkyrie.
Anyway, many hoped that this would be the first coupled-up outing for Harry and Meghan Markle. We knew Meghan was in London last week and many believed we were due for Meghan and Harry’s first photo-op. But it was not to be. According to Us Weekly, Meghan had already flown back to Canada by the time Harry was attending this rugby match. Us Weekly’s source also noted, “To be honest they’re relieved that they got to spend time together without being seen. It was a great trip. Going to the rugby together was never going to happen. It was an official engagement, not a social event, and Harry is a professional.” Yeah, but… Harry attended a few “official” events with other girlfriends, like Cressida Bonas and Chelsy Davy. Basically, we’re going to have to wait a while longer before their first photo-op, probably. Harry is headed to the Caribbean for a two-week tour, after which… maybe he’ll fly back to Toronto? Or maybe he’ll fly to LA, to meet Meghan’s family?
Meghan Markle has met Prince Harry’s dad and now it’s time for him to return the favor. While new photos emerge of the Suits star toting grocery bags to her British beau’s Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage, a source tells E! News that the 32-year-old royal is gearing up to make his own transatlantic trip.
As the insider said, there is talk of Harry planning a trip to go and meet Markle’s family. “It is seriously serious,” the source added.
Sources are also saying that Meghan has likely met most of Harry’s family at this point: Charles and Camilla, the cousins, and of course William and Keen Kate. Some people believe that Harry and Meghan could be engaged as soon as Christmas. Which… I don’t know, you guys. If it was just about Harry and his passion and emotions, I would say maybe a Christmas engagement is possible. But doesn’t the Queen feel strongly about lengthy courtships? And even with Harry’s passion for Meghan, I think a good rule of royal thumb is to at least date a person for one full year. No one’s saying that Harry has to make Meghan is Waity 2.0 and have her hang around for a decade. But wait one full year, I guess.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Seriously serious? Well alrighty now! I couldn’t have asked for a better diversion from that effed up election than this ‘ship. You go, Meghan!
This is totally off topic but please tell me you guys have seen the new pictures of Kate, she actually changed her eye makeup!!! We need pictures and a discussion soon 🙂
No, I didn’t notice, but then I didn’t see a zoomed-in photo.
I did, however, notice Kate’s Remembrance Sunday look has matured quite a bit since she married William.
I saw pics, but didn’t notice the makeup change so much as I thought she looked tired and distance.
Ooh I like her makeup, hair, and hat! And she might be wearing serious diamond and pearl earrings the Queen got from the King of Bahrain!
An improvement over a few years back when Kate literally twirled sausage curls during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony. Shudder
Does The Queen only loan Kate jewelry and no one else?
@Kitty I read that the Queen has loaned those same earrings to Sophie Wessex before
Chelsy and Cress went to official engagements with Harry? Im sure I would remember that. LAK, NOTA did it really happen
Yes, it happened. It was particularly noticeable with Cressy because it took a long time, they appeared together, then split up soon thereafter.
I recall Chelsy was at his pilot school graduation, but surely that didnt count as an engagement. The only thing I can think of with Cress is the pics of them kissing, taken at some kind of concert
From 2014: Cressida joined Harry on Friday at the inaugural U.K. event benefitting Free the Children, an international charity working to engage and empower young people to work together towards ending poverty. He gave a speech to 12,000 students and admitted to being “incredibly nervous” to address his young audience, then quipped, “If you were expecting Harry Styles, I apologize. And no, I’m not going to sing.”
No they did not.
They can attend family events that are private even where they are public eg Peter’s wedding or graduation ( Chelsy and Kate)
Charity requires some hairsplitting because some charities are affiliated with govt initiatives and are therefore official duties eg Wellchild whilst others are royal’s own private endeavour eg Sentebale and royal is free to invite anyone they like.
Ditto some business/sporting enterprises are official duties eg Rugby/football/Hockey because they incorporate govt initiatives, but others are private endeavours.
Chelsy and Cressida attended private family events or private charity events. They never attended official events.
The ‘Free the Children’ charity thingy you are talking about is a private charity. Harry was there in his private do-gooding hat. Plus Cressida brought along the Bransons + her sister which means she vould plausibly deny she was there with Harry.
I didn’t think anyone attended official royal events until they were safely in the bosom of the family. But stepping out as the official boyfriend or girlfriend is a different matter.
Chelsy never did. She attended his army graduation thing (I have no idea what its actually called). Kate was also there for Williams and when he got his wings. They’re private family events not royal engagements.
Cressida didn’t attend the W.E. Day concert as Harry’s plus one or really anything to do with him. She was there because of the Bransons. Her sisters married to Sam. But she sat beside him which is why people say she attended a royal engagement with Harry. So it depends how you view it I suppose.
It sounds like it might even have been the pushiness of going to an official engagement and leaking that Harry invited her that led to the breakup. It may not have been Cressida herself who talked to the press – I got the impression her family were all for the relationship.
Not on Remembrance Weekend, the Royals take that very seriously. Charity concerts, etc are not a big deal.
A year is probably wise before committing to a very public life with someone, but at age 32/35, it’s totally possible to know quickly that this is what you’ve been looking for.
ITA Bettyrose – considering their ages, and if things continue as they are, I see an engagement by next Spring. There was no reason to go public since no photo had been taken of them.
Yep. In these pictures, what stood out to me is that he is really starting to look middle-aged. He doesn’t have that hot young prince shine to him any more. Maybe he is ready to get on with it and start a family.
Yes – the comparisons to Chelsy and even Cressida are annoying me so much because the age difference is no small thing. Chelsy was a college girlfriend, Meghan is 35. It is a different story.
And no, Kate never shared anything on social media, but things are different from 2004 or whenever it was that she met William. Even professional adults are pretty much “expected” to have some sort of social media presence now. It wasn’t as commonplace 10-15 years ago.
People forget that social media and it’s current usage is fairly new.
Whilst blogs, Facebook were around in the mid-00s, social media didn’t really take off until after 2009 especially when twitter was upgraded to a better version of itself in 2011.
Kate keep saying that she didn’t promote herself with social media, but those platforms either hadn’t been invented or were not the common occurance and current usage. She promoted herself in the old fashioned way via mainstream print media.
LAK,
Yep. The iPhone was released in 2008, so it wasn’t until 2009/2010 when smart phones were in every hand. We’ve been posting our private business online since the late 90s, but it’s really only been about 6 years since we started posting our private business online *as it happens.*
Is it possible that they have been together longer than we realize? They may have just been super quiet about it?
My suspicion also, JD.
MTE She wouldn’t be meeting the family and friends in Scotland for his birthday after a month.
Good on them for pulling that off!
We all heard about the beaded bracelets, but the new gossip is that Meghan borrowed his hat to go travelling in – a white one with black band. They’ve both been photographed in it this year. She was wearing it from the end of May on Instagram. And presumably he didn’t just meet her at the end of May and say ‘I know, borrow my hat this summer!’
I am a bit too invested in this relationship happening, so I am going to keep my jinxing hopes away from the Harry threads. But just this once, I’ll risk it….
I’ll say it over and over again. She is a catch for Harry. A coup. I think she would be great for him personally, and up for the more visible parts of the job, too. For royal watchers like me, she would up the ante greatly – the clothes and the speeches would become interesting again.
For her, though, I think there are significant downsides. I wonder if she has imagined herself, a hardworking person with a portfolio of serious interests, going to endless boring rounds of house parties with posh toffs who drink to excess, watching tedious grouse shooting and fly fishing outings under dark, leaden Scottish skies, and taking up a work routine of opening shopping malls and hospitals and ladies centers – because folks, that is who Harry is and that is what his family does and has done forever.
Yes, Harry has a few causes that are exciting, and she could no doubt integrate some of her own interests into their docket, but most of royal life is tedious as h*ll. And endlessly scrutinized. That is the part that has scared off the other women in his life.
True.
If you are going to end up in the BRF you should be ready for this, otherwise you are just wasting your time.
Yep. God, I hate myself for being such a buzzkill. But the spector of all the happy fairytales that came crashing down and burning in the 80s still lingers heavily.
Gah! I almost nodded off just reading that description. What a bizarrely anachronistic world these people live in. It’s like Meghan would be joining them ftom the futuristic world of the 21st century
I think she would see it as a platform for causes she already believes in and works with. She’s an actress and well spoken and seems outgoing, so the public part would be easy. If you look at her IG she spent a lot of summer hanging out with “toff” friends in glamorous locales. I think she would be a modern princess and a great asset.
She could do some of it, for sure. But a lot of that life is utterly scripted and dull as dirtwater, she isn’t going to be able to spend all her time pursuing her own goals. And toff friends are far different from the inbred world of the BRF. It drove Diana crazy, and she was born to it.
A great asset, yes, and a great ass, judging by the stills from her show.
A princess… no, maybe a duchess, like Kate.
Why a duchess but not a princess?
If she marries Prince Harry, she will be considered a princess by most people regardless of what her formal title is.
Kate has Princess William as one of her official titles, as Diana was Princess Charles not really Princess Diana. The title of Duke is higher, so that’s why William (and she) go by the ducal title.
If Harry is not given an additional title at marriage, his wife’s would be HRH X Princess Henry of Wales. Like M-C is Princess Michael of Kent.
I don’t know all the “the” vs. “no the’s” for married vs. divorced.
Hmmm.. I don’t think her friends are “toffs” in the way we mean when we talk about the British Royal family and their set though Her friends are high flying professionals that works for a living. Her last boyfriend was a very successful chef and chefs work famously long hours. As one of the main characters on a to show she would also be used to long hours on set from early in the am. It’s a completely different life. I also don’t see how she’s going to continue her acting career if living in London. The opportunity for work in Tv for instance would be very limited. On top of that she would have to be extra careful in what work she chooses to do. I wouled love to see her shake up the monarchy but let’s face it’s it’s huge sacrifice for her in terms of freedom and career. And she’s a woman who sees herself as a feminist and has said she never wanted to be a lady who lunches so would she be satisfied living that kind of life? I guess we will see.
Being a free range socialite is different from being a BRF socialite. You can’t party and hang out with your mates freely. It rakes some organisation and or some built in help. By the time you get used to it, your free range friends have lost patience and moved on OR you are so paranoid about people that you stay home.
Maxima and Letizia are intelligent, strong, independent women and neither of them has ended up as a lady who lunches. I don’t see Markle having trouble transitioning to a successful royal, should that be her future.
I guess after this crap fest of a week I’m trying to see something hopeful and uplifting: love! princesses! pretty clothes! But seriously-she was a double major with international relations-so maybe giving up acting wouldn’t be such a big deal to her-she has other interests. And I like to think (probably grasping at straws) that the two of them together would sort of bring the BRF into modern times. I don’t know, you guys-indulge me 🙂
No, no, no! This wedding must happen!
See, perhaps this is what actual modernisation of monarchy could look like. We’ve said so many times that the philanthropic world is Katie Keen’s and Normal Bill’s oyster but they put an anachronistic country gentry lifestyle ahead of exploring it.
Harry and Meghan *could* explore it and the huntin’, shootin’, fishin’ stuff could all be put firmly in the past where it belongs.
Still wouldn’t make me a monarchist but it might make me less infuriated in my republicanism, you know?
Oh Sixer, I would love this more than anything for reasons I will not bore everyone with here. MORE THAN ANYTHING. For some reason I am highly invested in this woman as a human being, and I don’t want to see her take on something that will drag on her spirit.
He has many modern qualities, but you know as well as I do Harry will never ever ever put the huntin’ fishin’ shootin’ away.
And even in the most modern of monarchies (See Spain), the royals are trotted through what I would consider to be god awful anarchronistic tasks all damn day long.
I’m going to insist on some optimism of the American variety here and continue to dream!
(But I hear you.)
SIXER – for today I will join your optimism!
Sixer, American lurker here who enjoys your comments. Question…since Harry is still in line for the throne, wouldn’t he have to have permission from HM to become engaged/married? I think I remember a mention that with the birth of Charlotte, the Yorks no longer needed HM’s permission to wed.
Agnes’s mom: yes. He needs her permissoon to marry. So far the only person she’s refused to grant permission is her sister Margaret, but that was the 50s (?).
He doesn’t need the Queen’s permission to marry. He needs her permission to marry if he wants to stay in the line of succession. Margaret could have married Peter Townsend if she had been willing to give up the royal lifestyle. She was not.
Robin: if he marries without permission from the monarch or privy council, the marriage isn’t recognised. It’s not simply to stay in the line of succession.
The first 6 people in the line are subject to the Royal marriages act 1772 which touches upon legitimacy of the marriage as well as the line of succession.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marriages_Act_1772
Not to be sappy, but the wild card here is Harry’s adorability. I think he’s a man a woman could really love. If she really loves him it will outweigh the downside.
Dude, again, I would love it if it happened, but I am going to give you a cuationary tale. Your wild card has been played millions of times all over the world, not the least in the BRF. All adorable men eventually age (see Uncle Andy), the hot sex becomes marital sex. What you are left with are your common interests and your common commitments. And in the royal world, you are left with the job.
I feel like such a wet blanket here. I really do want this to happen, but she is a human being and I just hope she has thought this through.
@suze really loving someone means hot sex and then disillusionment?
@Suze – just to counter your wet blanketness, Meghan’s 35, she’s independant, confident, successful, with a full and varied life. She’s not some starry-eyed, inexperienced ingénue, waiting for her prince to come. So it’s reasonable to assume that she knows her own mind and wouldn’t enter into a marriage that would stunt her.
The nature and strength of their relationship and common goals is what will make or break them, but if it’s genuinely solid (and I really hope it is), then as a unit, I don’t see why she and Harry (particularly with his ‘money in the bank’ service to date) can’t lay down a few laws and forge a path, duty-wise, that they both can happily work with.
Nope, Looty, it is not. But more to the point, she will have to make significant compromises because she would not be marrying just an adorable man but a job. That has brought on disillusionment in many people who have married into the royal family.
Right, guesto. I trust that she can figure it out. It’s the starry eyed internet commenters who are pushing for a wedding in the next four months that are not.
I hope she is currently takinga good hard look at Charles and William. Everybody is playing nice right now because that is what they do, and she appears really charming so I believe people genuinely like her.
But the future is where the crux of the matter lies. They will not only be her family but eventually, they will be her bosses. What she can and can’t do will in part be determined by how they decide to run the family business. Will William let a glamorous sister in law take a high profile role? Or will he say – off to Croydon with you, there is a medical center that needs opening. After you finish that there is another in Birmingham, and after that maybe you can do some of those things that you wanted to do…
Charles might see the value of letting her take on what she wants. However, the memory of his own time in the shadows of a glamorous spouse might still sting. I hope he can get past it – he likes pretty women, so she might charm him, too.
But you’re right, she seems savvy. She probably has sussed out everything I am talking about already. And maybe she has already been on a huntin’ shootin’ weekend and liked it. Or at least didn’t hate it.
@Suze: typically I would agree, but I feel like this time, Harry will *not* stand for any BS directed at her. Hopefully it will continue after the newness and the novelty have worn off, but Harry seems serious about this.
I think if he marries her, he will be prepared to walk away from the BRF rather than let her be bullied by William, Kate, whoever else objects.
@suze – Harry has already made it VERY clear that he will not tolerate any bullying or nasty behaviour toward Meghan and I don’t think he has to worry about that coming from his father, grandparents or extended family members. The people within the BRF he needs to protect her from are the Cambridges – they have thrown Harry, Chuck and TQ under the bus when it suits them, they will do the same with her. Kate in particular will not tolerate any competition to her position as Queen Bee within the Wales’s brothers household and she won’t like any media comparisons either – its long been said that Kate has a jealous streak.
You misunderstand me, or more likely I wasn’t clear in my explanation. I am not talking about bullying, but the mundane task of dividing the more boring end of job duties. It’s been pretty clearly communicated that Harry’s family will have to be all in for full time work since there will be fewer royals. Even though Anne and Sophie pull more than their weight, and probably will until they are both 90, there are still a bunch of non-glamorous appearances that have to be handled. I don’t see William taking those (and in all fairness, as second or third in command, he shouldn’t have to).
I doubt Harry will have to walk away from the royal family. I just don’t think things would ever get to such a dramatic point over who has to open the Home for the Aged in BFE.
Letizia, Maxima, Daniel, etc. I don’t see them folding under boredom in their royal lives. I see them taking the platform and doing good work. UN microfinance, UN nutrition and healthy living, focusing on rare diseases. It is a job, an incredibly privileged one. Make of it what they will.
They live much different lives from that of Harry, though. That group is full of highly educated, sophisticated polyglots with modernized royal families. Not too much of that huntin’ shootin’ stuff going on.
I suspect she’d help him move away from the town-and-country set, which he’s been doing himself for years. He’s been moving and working on a much more global stage for a few years now. He needs someone smart and savvy at his side to help him continue his evolution.
It’s likely they would influence one another. I would hope that neither one would have to abandon their friends and lifestyle completely. But her life would change more than his, it’s inevitable.
If they decide to move forward, it is her choice to take on that life and those changes. Maxima and Letizia took them on just fine, I see no reasons Markle couldn’t do the same.
I can fly fish, hunt, and love Scotland. Pick me Prince Hot Ginge!
How salty will Kate be if Will made her wait 10 years and Harry pops the question to Meghan in 6 months?
World is full of men who would’ve proposed to Kate in 6 months.
Boom!!
What Bluhare said!!
Haha love it.
Not sure about the part about the Queen wanting long courtships, I guess maybe it is based on the fact that of her 4 children the only one who hasn’t divorced, Edward, had a courtship lasting years vs months? I do agree the courtships of Diana/Charles and Fergie/Andrew were way too short, but then neither Diana nor Fergie were 35 year old divorcees with well-established careers and lives.
I like Charlene’s short hair – I think it’s a big eff off to those who wanted a princessy princess. I’m laughing at the idea that they went together to this event, though, they appeared together at it, for sure. But you can tell it was all work, no play for either of them.
I love her hair too! Short hair brings out eyes and bone structure.
Agree, she has such lovely bone structure and that haircut shows it off beautifully.
Looks like Charlene has fine, thin hair like Sophie. Once it gets beyond a certain length, it takes way too much work to get it to do what you want. She’s used to the short, wash and go of her competition years, and is said to swim every day. Short hair fits her lifestyle.
Love Charlene’s hair too, and her poppy red lipstick in these photos.
Agreed. She looks beautiful in a real way, and not a manufactured princess way.
Charlene is lovely and she looks much more content now than she did at the start of her marriage.
I do, too. I think the style looks very French!
Honking for a Christmas engagement.
Also, finding myself totally on board with bluhare’s St Martin-in-the-Fields wedding fantasy.
Also again, only tangentially-related, but Lego has promised not to continue any advertising or promotional activity with the Daily Fail. Waitrose, Lidl and John Lewis in the crosshairs. So y’know. A Harry/Meghan engagement could be the thing that tips the Fail into spontaneous combustion. My dearest wish.
A St. Martins wedding would be great. Change it up. Do we have the choir singing? I would even get up early for that.
I bought loads of Lego yesterday for Christmas presents (directly from the website). Your move, John Lewis.
Also, is Harry wearing a Scottish poppy? Charlene has the one you see in England.
Mr Sixer has an internet friend based in the north somewhere. She’s in her eighties, husband died and they had no children, so she has no grandkids or anything to buy for. She went out and bought some little Lego toys after their announcement and took them straight into the nearest Oxfam shop as a donation.
Cutest story I’ve heard in ages.
That is adorable. It gives me hope for the future for when I am in a similar position (Mr Tina and I have no children).
@ Sixer
I read that as well but I don’t know if I should commend or criticise them. ‘Bullying’ organisations /campaign groups don’t sit well with me.
Bullying might be a strong word but freedom of speech matters. The Fail and the Sun put their racist /misogynistic views out there and those views were debunked and called out.
I would much prefer a vocal racist /misogynist than a quiet one. The quiet ones are always far more dangerous.
“I would much prefer a vocal racist /misogynist than a quiet one. The quiet ones are always far more dangerous.”
Beautifully put BritAfrica. Very insightful.
Nah. Nothing to do with freedom of speech. Nothing at all.
The Fail and the Sun and the Express can print what they like. Doesn’t mean I have to support businesses that contribute to their profits any more than I have to personally contribute to their profits by giving them web traffic. And any business that has ethics as part of its USP, as Lego, John Lewis, the Co-op and others do, don’t get to shout out about those wonderful ethics at the same time as giving money to fascists.
#stopfundinghate and all that jazz. Nothing to do with freedom of speech and everything to do with consumer choice. Two completely different things.
“I would much prefer a vocal racist /misogynist than a quiet one. The quiet ones are always far more dangerous.”
I absolutely agree with this as a general principle but in the context of consumer boycotts it’s just a straw man. Sorry, darling!
It will be lovely, Sixer. Greens and white poinsettias and paperwhites with the occasional flash of red. And candles obvs.
If KP wants to give me a call I can provide all the particulars. 🙂
Your comment on one of those other posts honestly sent me into a St Martin reverie! Keep filling me in with all the details!
That sounds more like a Christmas wedding than an engagement!
The greens will be fir/pine and cedar, with some regular and variegated holly with berries (one of those red splashes). I need to go see the St. Martins in the Field lay out so I can be a bit more specific; I’ve never been. But I tend to go for simple and let the beauty of the moment and season take center stage.
The bride will probably be in white (but I could see red if it didn’t have so many scarlet woman connotations). with the attendants in white, and the girls with red petticoats under their white dress, and the boys with a muted green sash on their outfits. The girls could even carry a muff instead of posies.
Harry would look lovely in his uniform with a sprig of holly for his boutonniere. Meghan’s flowers I’m not sure about. I’ll have to think about that. Perhaps an homage to Burns with red, red roses. Another splash of red.
They will have the guard of honour leaving the church, and guests will need to bring a toy to donate in order to get in the door. And no gifts for the bride and groom other than charitable donations.
What do you think?
The toy thing might be a security concern, unless they’re sent through metal detectors.
I vote zero lace anywhere. She’d need a grown-up gown like CP Victoria, Mathilde, Sophie Rhys Jones, or Maxima (minus the lace trim).
What about winter berries for her bouquet, Bluhare?
https://img0.etsystatic.com/060/0/7364014/il_570xN.736305886_n6it.jpg
Bluhare is making even crusty old me very happy with all this!
I agree with notasugarhere : please, no lace on the wedding dress. It has become the new strapless for brides (and God knows how much I hated this strapless trend !)
@Nota, LOL, this is a fantasy wedding! Security concerns do not apply!
It’s a 2017 wedding, nas. Engagement announced early next year, with a December wedding. And Guesto is correct; this is a fantasy so we aren’t overly concerned with security. Other than I get to give Harry his pat down. And we will have bomb sniffing dogs at the donation area who will be jauntily attired with Christmas collars that have bells.
I like the winter berry idea Guesto. They could be interspersed with the white flowers too. And if there are white berries that would be lovely with the red roses too. I’m not a giant rose fan, but I do love the homage to Robert Burns and love being like a red, red rose.
And perhaps Meghan could walk in to Joy to the World and they could leave to Hallelujah. The thought of that being sung in church at Christmas to celebrate a wedding gets me all misty.
If too close to November 20, people might think they were horning in on HM and Philip’s 70th. A spring/summer event might be a better option…
Apparently you missed the part about my fantasy wedding for Harry, nas.
Fantasy or not, these things must be considered! They’d have to avoid August 31 too, obviously.
Hmm…that’s all well and good -as long as the paper being driven out of business aligns with your beliefs.
What if it were the Guardian? Or the ‘Independent’, whose right to exist were being threatened? Would you still applaud their demise? Or would issues of ‘free speech’ and ‘freedom from bullying’ take precedence?
Charlene looks fab.
Yeah
I don’t remember if it was an official statement or gossip but Meghan was never supposed to attend and I don’t think anybody expected her to. Besides it’s probably too soon, 5 or 6 months of dating, for an official appearance. Also she’s had a lot of attention the last week. They would probably wait for the “hysteria” to calm down.
Speaking of the BRF, anyone watching The Crown on Netflix. It’s about Queen Elizabeth II early reign. It also contains a bit of Wallis/Edward & Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend. I want to dish about it, especially how they portray Philip’s whiny ass.
OMG yes! I’m obsessed…it’s so good! I didn’t know much about Princess Margaret until the show and now she’s my favorite royal family member. I know she’s since past away, but her story is so interesting to me. She kinda reminds me of Harry a bit. The younger sibling who is way more fun and charming than the older sibling. And yes Philip is whiny as hell! And forever making that stupid face where his chin is down…it’s weird and he does it in every scene he’s in.
I’ve always enjoyed modern royal gossip, but the vintage stuff is great. I’d never heard of Margeret before the show. She died when I was young, but I read up on her history, and god it was tragic.
I love Matt Smith, but Philip is so annoying. Always complaining. He knew what he was signing on for.
I just saw the episode of the crowning yesterday. I am fascinated BUT as I have read a lot about this family here and elsewhere the series leaves out a lot of details, it could tell the real reasons of the abdication of the king, at least in private conversations between family members. That bullshit about his love for Wallis is to much, why not mentioning the danger he put the monarchy.
Also Philip, yep annoying but the truth is that he had an ambitious “uncle”. They hoped for more power but had to back down. As for Margaret, sorry to say but she was a spoiled brat. She could have married him but she wanted the status, money, power too much. She wasn’t ready to sacrifice for her love.
Oh I saw how the queen get dressed. I mean she just stood there and someone dressed her. Does that thing get done still??? Or it’s just a past thing? Do the younger royals have that kind of help still???
Agree re Margaret
For Phillip his ambitious “uncle” really was his literal uncle I think, Lord Mountbatten was indeed the brother of Phillip,s mother Princess Sophie
As much as I’d love to see them stick it to the peanut gallery, I think getting married after such a short time would be a recipe for disaster. I’m rooting for them.
I’ve got a question for those who’ve been joking (?) about wanting a Westminster Abbey wedding: is it possible? Has a divorcee ever married at Westminster Abbey? Are divorcees even allowed to have religious weddings in the CoE?
It would probably be ok, as Harry is not the future supreme governor of the Church of England, as Charles was when he married Camilla. The marriage of a divorced person whose spouse is still living has been possible in the Church of England, at the discretion of the member of clergy conducting the ceremony, since 2002.
They might get married in Scotland, as Princess Anne did when she married Timothy Laurence after having divorced Mark Phillips. Remarriage of divorcees is less controversial in the Church of Scotland.
Interesting, thanks Tina!
Or they could follow Charles and Camilla by having a registrer wedding followed by a church blessing at Westminster.
Camilla and Charles’s blessing was at St George’s Chapel at Windsor.
Or they could get married in the States. Is there a law that says Harry has to wed in his home country?
Lady D: there isn’t a law per se, but his wedding isn’t a private affair.
In as much as his status requires, he is having a state wedding. That can’t happen in another country without him abandoning his position in the UK first.
Right, LAK. I should have realized he belongs to the throne.
Question: After the queen dies, there is one less heir to the throne. Does that mean Beatrice will again need permission from Charles to marry? Can Charles put the kibosh on Harry’s potential wedding?
Lady D: Assuming no new births, when she dies everyone moves up a spot. Beatrice would move up to no 6 and subject again to rules of the first 6 heirs.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier met in April 1955. Engaged at Christmas. Married in April 1956.
Rania and Abdullah II were engaged at the 2 month mark, wedding 7 months from the day they met. 23 years of marriage.
Letizia and Felipe were engaged at the 5 month mark, married within a year of meeting. 12 years and counting.
There are no rules about what is the correct choice for any two people.
NOTA, Grace and Rainer arent a great example since it was more or less an arranged marriage.
An arranged marriage? What makes you say that?
None of us were in the relationship, so all is speculation.
My thoughts lean that direction as well, though. She was top of her field, but she knew her shelf-life was up as she neared 30. Their marriage solved some big problems for both of them.
Phaksi is right.. Grace’s marriage was arranged and her father even paid a dowry of 2mil$. Her father had earlier tried to match up Grace with JFK but (and this is a quote from a biography) “Jack’s father, unfortunately, felt that Grace was too ‘Hollywood’ for his son’s burgeoning political career and talked JFK out of it. ”
Meghan did her pap stroll in UK & was probably hoping to meet the family but most royal reporters are tweeting that didnt happen,
The royal reporters are clearly scrambling, as they didn’t see this one coming. They have no idea whether or not Markle has been introduced to members of the royal family, but they all have to write something.
Phaksi: adding to the sponsored by Hollywood reality of Grace Kelly’s entry into European royalty.
Felipe and Letizia had known each other a while and dated a year before they announced their engagement.
From Hello Magazine:
While reporting on an oil spill off the Spanish coast in November 2002, Letizia Ortiz ran into Felipe. The two met earlier that year at a dinner party, but this time he asked her for a date. They kept their courtship under the radar and announced their engagement a year later. Instead of a prim dress, Letizia wore a sexy white pantsuit to meet reporters and created a stir when she chided, “Let me finish,” after Felipe interrupted her.
Rania and Abdullah did indeed get married 13 months after their first meeting.
I’ve wondered this for a while, but: what defines a pap stroll? I know there are instances where celebrities *want* to be photographed in public, but if a celebrity is photographed in public and it’s not a terrible thing for them, are we just supposed to assume that they wanted to be photographed? We can’t read their minds.
With the recent photos of Meghan Markle in Kensington, I’m scratching my head. It just seems like someone took some blurry pictures of her while she was getting groceries. I’m not sure why this would be seen as a “pap stroll”… it seems just as likely that she tried to go in and out discreetly, but failed.
That’s the Hello magazine version, which I would suspect. The more prevalent version is that he had her boss introduce them at dinner party. They had to move the engagement up a month because they had been found out. The Crown Prince dating secretly in Spain for over a year and never getting caught? Highly unlikely.
Rania and Abdullah II married at the 7 month mark, not 13 months.
My understanding is that a major requirement for a religious marriage for a divorced person in the Church of England is that the person they are marrying must not have been involved in the breakdown of the previous marriage. Charles would probably have been OK since Diana was deceased but I suspect he wanted to avoid the newspapers analysing why it was or wasn’t OK for him to be marrying a woman in church that he’d been sleeping with during his first marriage.
The issue with Charles and Camilla was primarily that Andrew Parker Bowles was still alive, not the Diana side of things. But I think you’re right on the other points.
Tina, of course he was. I totally blanked on that fact. It just goes to show how good the Royal family PRs are at writing out inconvenient past details.
Anne married in Scotland. Prince Michael of Kent married outside the UK, likely because M-C’s ex husband was still alive. Her Catholic annulment didn’t come through until after her civil wedding to Prince Michael.
I’m here for a winter wedding. I’m here for a spring wedding…doesn’t matter! I just want these two to get married. They are my new otp.
What is surprising to me is not the amount of hate being leveled at her, but at WHERE it is coming from. Comments on the DM? Sure, that’s to be expected – that site is a cesspool and commenters are the bottom feeders.
But I am seeing reactions I didn’t expect from sites that are not generally pro-Royal. One site in particular that is usually so critical of Kate and very circumspect has an unreal number of nasty comments, including from the woman who owns & writes the blog.
And the “faux-concern”-ish way that they are being framed…people saying things like, “I had expected more from Harry,” “I hope he knows what he’s getting himself into” – so patronizing!!
For people who consider themselves “fans” of Harry’s, they sure are quick to believe that Meghan couldn’t really care for him and is using him for publicity. Just…what?!
I think I’m just so tired and broken after this awful week here in the States. I don’t have it in me to defend against this sh!t anymore. It seems there is hatred and intolerance everywhere all of a sudden.
I’ve been surprised by that too.
It seems the same people who wanted Harry to go a diffrrent way are now really angry that he did.
Then again, Cressida and Chelsy drew vitriolic hatred as well which means these people prefer royals without significant others so they can moan endlessly about the royal being unable to find someone. Or play fantasy girlfriend/boyfriend.
Royal Dish went from zero to haters really quickly after it was confirmed she was his gf. I mean two Instagram pics with bananas and a vague reference to an elephant is being a media whore don’t ya know?
She is the opposite of Kate in pretty much every aspect being an adult with a job and doing charity because she wants to, and yet Meghan is a publicity hound according to them.
I am not a fan of the monarchy, but I am rooting for Meghan and Harry.
I was taken aback by the number of people dragging her on the site you’ve mentioned, including regarding what her academic majors were at Northwestern University. Northwestern is a great school! I instantly remembered that Diana went there in 1996 and was even seen running around London afterwards in a Northwestern sweatshirt. http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/remembering-princess-dianas-visit-to-nu-20-years-l/
I’m rooting for them too! I like that she does charity work. And on a shallow note, I think she’s quite pretty.
I love that quote “Its seriously serious”. Lol. That sounds like a 14 year instagramming with her BFFs about the boy she just met 🙂
The interview from June with Piers Morgan impressed me. This woman is a MASTER networker.
Moving from the players box at Wimbledon (‘Serena says hi, Piers!) to an interview with Piers Morgan (Oh, Serena, just off to have a drink with Piers Morgan. Shall I give your regards?) to a dinner in ‘Mayfair’.
She appears entranced with so-called high status markers. How else does a middling actress on a cable tv show get a) clothing line b) speech at the UN?
Whatever happens with Harry -this woman is going to be FINE.
@Lorelai – take heart from the fact that, objectively, the ‘haters’ are an anomaly, a minuscule, in the bigger scheme of things, of overly-invested at best, jealous begrudgers and, at worst, out-and-out loons who we really should pity for their inability to live happy, generous, hopeful, positive lives out here in the real world.
And maybe stop reading those sites? Because you’re giving them traffic that they really don’t deserve.
I guess I didn’t expect people to…take it so personally?
I don’t remember this kind of reaction when we found out about Kate. Most people were just excited for a royal wedding.
With Harry, though! The jealousy is palpable. As if any of these commenters were actually in the running to begin with! It is so strange.
I just….saying that this whole thing was a way for her to get publicity seems like an awfully long con with very little potential for payoff. You have 1) meet Harry and have him be interested in you; 2) date him for a few months, without leaking it to the press because you have to at least pretend that you, like him, are trying to enjoy your privacy while you get to know each other better; 3) fly internationally several times to see each other; 4) find the most random pictures to post to instagram that could be interpreted a million different ways (bananas with a face drawn on them); 5) hope that once you break up all of this will somehow lead to more acting gigs, instead of turning you into “sad American girl dumped by Prince”.
They’ll stretch it anyway they want. Doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to them I guess.
Charlene looks like she has had too much work done, sadly.
As for Meghan, I’m glad she didn’t go, as I think it would have played into the “fame hungry” critics hands, coming so soon after the “leave her alone” campaign.
Also, I think I’m rooting for her simply so there is a Princess Rachel (Meghan’s real first name, not just her character’s name on Suits). As a Rachel, I feel it has a ring to it. Haha
Her name isn’t actually Meghan? I didn’t know that! Interesting.
Meghan is her middle name.
She’s using Meghan as her stage name, I guess to distingush from her character on Suits.
Smart. “Meghan Markle” rolls off the tongue better than “Rachel Markle”.
I think we have another unicorn…
She studied international relations and got a job at the US embassy from Buenos Aires, but gave up that career to be an average actress in an average show.
She knows what she’s doing. In the first photo after their ‘relationship’ was discovered, she made sure to wear the famous bracelet that gave them away, on her IG
A quote, for the sake of contrarian thinking:)
‘This woman is no dumb bunny. She is tapping into Harry’s emotional issues dealing with his mother’s death at the hands of the media and the public’s fascination. She is tapping into his sense of urgency to protect her which he could not do for his mother. She is pushing the right buttons. He will marry her.’
women, espacially WOC, are always so manipulative and men, especially the white ones, helpless creatures, right ? And people wonder why orangino was elected
Who would believe in 2016, people can still be so narrow-minded?? But the US is a different and unique case, isn’t it? What is so hypocritical about the dumb majority (of Americans) is that they critisize other countries and turn a blind eye to the same things happening in their very own backyard. There are racists and racism everywhere, but in the US, apartheid and separation of races is very much alive and kicking… its just not state sanctioned, that’s all… but its active at a “social” level.
Thank God that in the UK, even with subtle and casual racism — white-on-white racism; black-on-black racism; Asian-on-Asian racism, but I haven’t seen or experienced this deliberate social separation of races, even after moving here 12 years ago from NY. I now find the US quite shocking, and really scared to move back.
So you can understand in part why Harry was so incensed. Yes, she’s his woman, but the race thing was a step too far. Interracial marriage is not a big deal here… unless of course you are looking at specific cultures where mixing / dilution of the race is a huge no-no.
Racism is certainly alive and well in the UK but it’s definitely true that daily life has always been more integrated. Riz Ahmed has been talking interestingly about this of late. Also, if we’re saying racism/xenophobia played a part in the Brexit vote, which we are, the areas with high proportions of POC and immigrants in the UK mostly voted to remain while those with the lowest mostly voted to leave. That has to tell us something about integration working, right?
I have hated all of William’s self-serving decrees about and to the press but I support Harry’s defence of his girlfriend with everything I’ve got.
@Kate, It’s quite unfortunate that she’s being portrayed as someone who is fame hungry and only out to use Harry. I’m rooting for them as a couple as I think she’s capable and intelligent.
@FrostedFlakes, I take offense when people are stereotyped as a whole. I was a refugee who is now a US citizen. The US is not perfect, but I am proud to call it home. I can only speak from my own experience, but the only times that I’ve experienced discrimination was not in the US, but the UK and Australia. So for what it’s worth, I hope one day everyone will look at one another as human beings. Not Americans, not Asian, not Black, not Muslims, not Mixed…just a human being.
Now I remember why I stopped frequenting these threads, “dumb majority of Americans” and “social apartheid.” Oh, heavens, but just think of this:
It’s not the Americans making a big deal of her interracial background, is it?
She was an intern at the embassy. Have you been an intern? It’s like being a gopher and doing errands for people. Not a great job.
And of course wearing a bracelet. Omg. What a horrible person. Harry must marry her now that she wore a bracelet.
Oh my.
She gave up being an intern for a major supporting role on a TV show? Sure “Suits” is no “Game of Thrones” but it has been on the air, and she has had a steady acting job, since 2011. That is no small thing– many actors would sell their souls to work steadily on a TV series for over 5 years.
And she’s used her public profile from the show to do great things. In fact I daresay MM has used her platform as “an average actress on an average show” to do FAR more than say the woman who has been married to an heir to the throne for the past 5 years.
Wow, that little ole bracelet and a couple of bananas sure have some folks *royally* pissed off. LOL!
Those damn bananas…
Charlene looks fantastic! I love her style.
Maybe this is why Will and Kate skipped that wedding mentioned in another article recently. So they could spend time with Meghan and keep her company while Harry did his event.
I don’t think so…I read someplace else that she was already heading back to Toronto by the time he was leaving for the rugby match.
Markle granted a 90 min interview to Piers Morgan. How is it she’s still dating Harry? What happened to the discretion rule when dating a royal???
The Piers Morgan interview was done back in the summer. He’s just riding the wave and releasing the info he garnered now.
Is that the same interview she gave in June, though?
Other newspapers online and on twitter are saying she spoke to him now and gave the go ahead to print the article as the interview also mentions she was “single” in June- thereby indirectly saying she didnt cheat on her Chef bf as soon as Harry dropped by.
This one knows the game! Oh to be a fly on the wall at the MIddletons right about now!
Yes
If she’d spoken to him now, Piers would have mentioned that he’d spoken to her. He’s not a very discreet person and he loves to place himself in the centre of things. He put the story out for his own benefit (and possibly tweaked it for maximum effect).
What Rea said.
He already knew her as a sel-cofessed fan of the tv show and was following all the actors of the show. She emailed him to tell him she would be in London in June, he invited her out for a drink.
Now that she is famoud for dating Harry, he has spun that innocent conversation into an ‘interview’ plus the DM has packaged it to look like a recent sit down interview to maximum click bait effect.
My introduction to Piers was a Youtube video of the incomparable Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent. Before he spoke a word, the smug superior look on his face as he was listening to her speak turned me right off.
After I got over being blown away by Susan Boyle, I listened to his critique of her and thought what a condescending ass. It’s nice to know I got him right.
Lady D: Piers Morgan has been famously, self-important since the 90s when he edited the Mirror newspaper.
He is also an unashamed star suck up who ALWAYS tries to insert himself in every headline grabbing story of the day and a shameless name dropper. This ‘interview’ is not surprising.
Piers is an opportunistic, self-important POS. Nothing he does or says comes from a good, decent or well-meaning place. He and Nigel Farage are two sad, twisted, odious peas in a rancid, stinking pod.
@ Guesto that is quite mild really!
If I don’t get a royal engagement by Christmas I’m going to be so upset. Give me that Lifetime Movie love story, Harry!
@LAK…thank you for the marriage answer. I quite enjoy your comments as well. 🙂
Just wondering what if there is no christmas engagement news? WOuld you guys be upset?
No, because there are 12 months in a year 😉 And January is a fine time to announce an engagement lol (though in my opinion, still a bit soon).
IMHO, I think it would be very difficult for anyone to marry into that family, but especially a woman who has been living independently for years. Also, Meghan will be set up as the foil for Kate. It would be an uncomfortable position for anyone.
Sophie Rhys Jones, after the hiccup involving a sting operation, is doing just fine. Independent business woman, not from a posh background, understands the job, fits in fine.
Harry has already shown he’ll stand up for Markle, which is a plus. Against Markle? Kate Middleton is even less interesting than before, if that is possible.
he is fed up with being single all the time.
I dont see this as anything other than another affair for harry that wont last. Im easy either way – i admire harry for his service in afghanistan and th invictus games but iv no time for wee willy willnot and his lazy wife. I fear th monarchy will die with th queen unless they up their game. I cant tell you how annoyed i am that their “first outing as a family of four” was to canada – did they not think it appropriate to introduce the children to the people here in th uk who help fund their incredibly priviledged lifestyle?