As we’ve been discussing all week, the Royal Foundation is no more. No, that’s not exactly right: the Royal Foundation as it existed previously is no more – it will no longer be the large banner charity for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Once Meghan was added to the foundation’s board (around the time of the Sussexes’ wedding), it basically could no longer exist as-is for a year. Emily Andrews broke the news this morning:
As I revealed last month, a board meeting of the Royal Foundation was held yesterday to formalise the division of the charity. Harry and William both attended at KP. An announcement is expected later today. https://t.co/dISKBJ0Gh0
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) June 20, 2019
As much as the tabloids want to make this into a recent development/beef, the writing’s been on the wall for months now. The Royal Foundation was always going to be too unwieldy and shady with the two brothers and their wives all competing for attention within one organization. It was barely working before Meghan even came around, because Harry’s charitable interests had already begun to veer from the Cambridges’ vague keenness. And yes, the Royal Foundation only really “worked” when William felt like he was in “control” of Kate and especially Harry. As soon as Harry and Meghan began developing their own couple-brand separate from William, that’s when all the problems began.
As for the rumors of a “rift” between the couples… as I continue to say, it’s mostly about William and Harry. Kate and Meghan are perfectly willing to put aside their differences and work together as colleagues in The Firm. William and Harry ARE the Beef.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN and Backgrid.
This is one of those things that was always going to happen, probably regardless of who Harry married, so it shouldn’t seem that surprising, and yet for some reason I find it somewhat surprising lol. I realize I am inconsistent. maybe the timing is what is throwing me off.
As this is a gossip site, I’ll confess that I do find myself really intrigued by the drama between the brothers. WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!? We’ll likely never know, but it just seems so obvious that “something” happened last fall. There has been an obvious tension. the brothers don’t even seem willing to put on a good face and fake it for the cameras, like Kate and Meghan do. (I don’t think there is bad blood there, but I think the women are aware of the rumors that there are issues between them, so they go out of their way when in public to interact with each other in a positive fashion.) The brothers don’t do that. The pictures from the premiere of “Our Planet” were so awkward.
I don’t necessarily agree that it was always going to happen. It should have happened (and awhile ago IMO), but you don’t hold a first annual forum if you’re planning to shutter the organization. It just wouldn’t make sense.
That’s a good point. I should say that I thought it seemed obvious it was always going to happen, but the royals clearly didn’t think so lol. Probably one of those things that seems more obvious to outside observers.
I don’t think it was an obvious move. I mean, yes the name alone took a small eternity to say, but if you remember, around the time of the forum the Fab 4 was getting endless good press. They were probably hoping to capitalize and then everything went pear shaped.
It never made sense to add Kate to the existing structure. It should have split at the time of their marriage, with a new foundation being made for Harry at that time.
I think William thought that they would use Meghan`s experience in the foundation with the Sussexes being surbonate members and doing most of the work, while the Cambridges continued as they had always done while sharing/ sometimes taking all the credit.
While agree with most people that things went totally wrong after the tour, I think there was a lot of tension at Eugenie`s wedding. I think Meghan`s cookbook really shook some people, because it was clear it was HER project. I think the fab 4 must have had some really hot discussions and I believe the rest of the family were aware of it at the wedding. I read somewhere that it had been suggested to Meghan to dim herself until everybody got used to her. I believe with her experience she disagreed. Hence the duchess difficult.
I think I’d give an eyetooth to know if your version is accurate. If that’s how it all went down and continues to go down, it would be epic to witness.
Remember the rush to announce Kate`s broken Britain just before Meghan`s release of the cookboo? Then the tabloids` announcement of a move from Kensington palace while they were still on tour ? Remember as we have now come to know Meghan started visiting charities while still engaged. She started visiting the Hubb in April . As told by was it Ingrid Seward, Meghan said she would hit the ground running, nobody expected her to be running this fast. Then the S.. hit the fan when they came back from the tour.
KP has still never officially announced this project yet. There was only that leak to the DM the Friday before the cookbook came out and I would bet serious money that Carole was behind that leak. Her shady comments in her own interview show that she is aware of how Meghan’s work ethic is a good thing and makes Kate look bad after so many years of doing so little.
They should have split when William married Kate. It made no sense keeping harry, they could have done joint foundation initiatives for heads together. No shade for splitting they’re grown men with different families and goals.
Again, I don’t think this is a big deal but I guess the British media have to chew on something.
An aside, Kate looked pretty when she was pregnant and had some extra weight on her.
She really did (look pretty when pregnant), and in this particular picture her hair looks beautiful.
She looked great through college and all the way up to the engagement announcement. Then she dropped weight for the wedding and never gained it back outside of the pregnancies. If that is her preference no problem, but she really had such a great athletic look before. That terrific old photo of her posing in front of Blenheim looks like she stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad.
Third wheeling big bro and his wife was always a bad decision on Harry’s part. It was bad enough it was happening while they were just married but once they had kids it should’ve ended.
Maybe William wanted to split when he got married and had children, but Harry didn’t. It’s possible that they kept the foundation intact until Harry was ready.
Harry of the massive projects like Invictus and Sentebale wanted to stay under his brother’s thumb? LOL
If they were keeping it in tact until Harry was ready, then why does it seem like when he is now ready, if that is the case, it looks to be placing blame on Meghan and if not, she and Harry. The British media seeks to make everything negative about Harry and Meghan in their ever raging stories to diminish them. Even with Meghan on maternity leave, having been out of sight since the Trooping of the Colors, she is still being bashed in the press.
Strange that all of this bad press started shortly after Harry and Meghan came back from their Oceanic tour. I mean, it was with lightening speed, we begun to hear about Kate crying, the air freshener, etc — all of it, six months after the wedding. It almost seemed like some people resented the way the couple was received by the public. Even with her wretched family dialing up the hate with their greed to use her to line their pockets, we did not see this level of furor. And what’s disturbing is that, all Meghan has tried to do, is her job, and do it effectively. The fact that people willingly just gravitate to Harry and Meghan, because of how relatable they are, why should they be penalized or asked to stifle their outreach? Without even trying, Meghan in recent days has been nominated for a Fashion Icon award, her book has sold multiple copies and roped in almost a cool half million pounds,. a whole Broadway play’s fashion is being inspired by her, fashion brands are benefiting economically because of the choice of clothes she wears — all of it good for the UK. So, why then is she been brutally punished — just for being good. This is bonkers.
I pray that now with the split, Harry and Meghan can go on work with their charities and raise their family. They are hardworking and will excel. May William and Kate do what they do to achieve their own successes. But please don’t ask Harry and Meghan to be mediocre because other people are not ready for Prime Time.
As all of us continue to say, the beef is with the brothers. Kate and Meg seem to be fine with each other but there has always been an undercurrent of tension between the two boys and it probably just hit its breaking point.
I forgot how great Kate and Meg looked in that panel.
Good idea. I remember that panel interview. Only Meghan sounded articulate given her background. No it’s not because she was an actress, some actors and celebs cannot present outside of a script. It’s because of her background in social activism. I was bemused seeing the contrast. Harry was not as articulate but he sounded sincere because he has some charisma. WK sounded like they were reading a script. You can say WK has years to improve and work, and I agree. But Meghan and Harry’s current popularity is causing some pressure, even if that’s not the real beef and even if Harry Meghan did not ask for more attention.
Right! I’m excited to see what other causes Harry and Meghan through their weight and time behind. I want to see Meghan’s “Invictus” passion project.
Hey, be careful there. Your positive review of Meghan is going to really, really hurt some peoples feelings.
Lol Bella. Maybe I can counterbalance it with Meghan can’t carry off most hats so far.
LOL! Good one, Bella
Ooooh, you’re gonna get flamed by Dark and Stormy any minute….
That panel photo made me laugh. Whatever the question was that they’re reacting to in that moment, Harry looks a bit cautious, the women are smiling/laughing, and Will…looks like he’s having a root canal. Unclench, dude.
The Fab Four never existed. No surprise here.
In my head, the Fab Four is Charles, Camilla, Harry, and Meghan. I thought that after the first Garden Party after Harry and Meghan’s wedding. I’ll bet you see more of my Fab Four as I assume Harry will take on a Princess Anne role by supporting his dad. Wills (and Kate) have got to stand on their own two feet. It’s way past time.
Of course William wanted to control Harry. All of the pieces to the puzzle fit. William warned Harry against Meghan because he knew he couldn’t control Meghan and ultimately Harry. The threat of the Sussex’s popularity was probably a huge blow to William’s massive ego.
The decision wasn’t made at a meeting today. This split was alluded to weeks ago in the Royal Foundation report, where they wrote about rethinking the structure of the Foundation.
No decision today, but the formal agreement of the split at the board so it is in the minutes for prosperity.
I’m curious as to how the money taken in by the Foundation will be split, especially the money raised by Meghan’s cookbook, funds that are supposed to go to the Hubb Community Kitchen. As I said in a prior post, it’s always bugged me a bit that the proceeds made from the sale of cookbook weren’t given to the Hubb Community Kitchen in their entirety but are being doled out as the Foundation see fit.
And maybe that’s a reason for the split. This way any charitable projects Harry or Meghan fo can go directly to that charity and where they see fit.
That’s the only reason I can see for a split. The foundation has always been kind of all over the place and been pretty vague about it’s goals. I really don’t understand why they started a foundation to begin with. It would make more sense to just have people donate directly to the charities it supports. They’re just adding a middle man for no reason. I think they should just support individual charities and skip the foundation.
OOOOh Harla, good one. Yah, I could see this as being an issue. It would be fine if all four Royals were putting together revenue generating projects. But when one person is doing that work for one organization? It just seems wrong that the money go to The Foundation.
The Hub Cookbook over performed. I believe the profits are about 55 percent of the funding of the Royal Foundation. All of Meghans’ projects have done well. She had a fan base that some people do not want to recognize. Between her TV Show, blog (The Tig) and UN Charity work ….. And Meghan has collected even more support because of way she is treated by the rr.
Harry is still one of the most popular royals. I think their foundation is going to do great things. The profits that Meghan s projects recreated should go to the Sussex Foundation. Meghan did the work and should be able direct where the profits go.
Get the popcorn ready at the smearing that will be dished out to Harry and especially Meghan. I am sure William and KP are busy briefing the BM.
This is what I thought when Harry started being included in the Cambridges activities. The future monarch and consort are having difficulties hacking it on their own. That is why he has been added. Why would Harry be included these projects when he already had Invictus , sentebale and was already being successfully sent on tours alone by the Queen.? Wouldn`t it have made more sense to phase Harry out after William`s marriage ?
Harry always had the better reputation for his causes and the Cambridges tried to hitch themselves to his wagon when he got included in the foundation. I guess they hoped some of his shine would fall on them.
To me, the Royal Foundation was just a convenient excuse for the Dolittles and Harry to get out of mainstream royal duties as they could claim to be so busy with the foundation. The foundation itself does not seem to do much in comparison with the Princes Trust. Meghan seems to have much more of a work ethic than the other 3 put together so hopefully she can put that energy into the new organisation.
Man, if I worked at this foundation I would be so pissed right now. Like, dudes, we JUST had all this new letterhead printed, and updated the whole website, and now you’re splitting it up? Argh!