Why is everything so funny to me today? I swear, I have been laugh-crying as I write all morning. People just can’t help being a–holes. People just can’t help but show us exactly what they’re doing. So, for the past two weeks, the British press has settled on a narrative about the Sussexes. Like many of the narratives, it seemed utterly plucked from thin air, and all of the “haters” decided to pounce and proclaim far and wide that THIS is the real reason why Harry and Meghan are awful: because they fly on private planes. Nevermind that the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are all regular passengers on private planes and helicopters. It’s all about how Harry and Meghan are terrible.
Where did this narrative come from? Why now? How? Well, far be it from me to suggest that Prince William is the one quietly pushing the narrative. But he’s certainly going to go out of his way to BENEFIT from the narrative. Behold, William wants us to see that he and his family took a cheap flight to Scotland:
Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children are seen getting off a £73 budget flight to Scotland https://t.co/xWkpQUxKAp pic.twitter.com/wgwpESmCrw
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) August 22, 2019
And if the photos weren’t enough, the Daily Mail had to tell you what it’s all about:
Prince William, his wife Kate and their children have been spotted getting off a £73 budget flight to Scotland, amid a row over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s private jet trips. The Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cambridge took the 8.45am flight from Norwich International Airport to Aberdeen Airport with their children this morning. The royal couple and their children can be spotted being escorted from the budget FlyBe plane and getting into waiting vehicles, where they are expected to be whisked away to visit the Queen and Prince Philip at Balmoral.
A passenger on the plane who spotted them said: ‘The family were sat right at the front. I fly this route all the time and we were non the wiser. No-one knew they were on the flight. Later on I realised that Kate’s mother was sat a few rows in front of me.’
Looking like you archetypal family man on holiday, Prince William can be seen clutching a number of bags while George and Charlotte run excitably alongside him. A spokesman for Kensington Palace said: ‘We do not comment on what they do with their private time as a family.’
Oh well, I guess that means that William and his family are truly the most royal and perfect people ever, because they would never, ever use a private plane to go anywhere! Oh, what’s that? You mean Poor Jason was especially keen to get this information out there, and he probably told the Daily Mail exactly where to set up their cameras? LOL. I mean, on one side, fair is fair and this was a well-played move on William’s part, albeit super-obvious. On the other side, it’s also pretty clear that William is behind so many of the smears of Harry and Meghan. Which is not funny, it’s just depressing.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
I really don’t like these two.
This is so staged it’s ridiculous. I say this because we never see them get off a plane like this during private time, but conveniently we did this time. Also, Rebecca English is their go to “exclusive reporter.
Yup, ir’s so trasparent now.
ITA – its pretty obvious that they are using the press to troll the Sussex’s to improve their image as workshy layabouts.
Everything about the Cambridges is contrived.
This. It is so sad and I doubt Will and Harry will be making up any time soon.
William and Kate are truly disgusting.
Yeah because Harry and Meghan never look for attention.
Calling them disgusting seems a bit much. I don’t doubt that this move is in response to the recent furore, but maybe the whole family is on notice to reconsider their travel plans so as not to add fuel to the fire. Let’s not forget William has a lot more to lose than Harry should the monarchy fall.
It’s that passive/agressive behavior I’ve previously stated Kate displays towards the Duchess of Sussex. It really is a mental display, even if temporary, and soooo obvious. Confirms my belief they were passively behind the hostility the Duke and Duchess suffered at KP. Don’t know if will help the two of them, though.
And it’s only going to get worse after H&M’s super-successful Africa tour.
Their tour to Pakistan most likely will be cancel, due to unrest.
Being passive agressive is a trait that runs deep in that toxic family. They ALL know how to play.
Meghan edited the September Vogue issue and Harry is in it quoted saying how they will have two kids max because of the environment. Thats also passive agressive torwards the Cambridges.
Obviously the Camebridges wanted to get papped. But in all fairness, after his brother and sister in law are dragged for 2 weeks about private planes, it would have been incredible stupid to jump on the next private plane. People would have shredded them
Normally, I would totally be on board with the Cambridges doing this selfishly- and that may still be the case.
But I also wonder what hand Buckingham Palace is having in all of this. Shoot out some bad press about the Sussexes, then pull this stunt with the Cambridges. People are either hating on Team Sussex, Loving Team Cambridge, talking conspiracy on either side, etc.,etc,
And who benefits the most from this drama? Prince Andrew. And the Queen.
I’d say mostly Andrew.
God I hope that rapist pervert gets appropriate consequences.
My money is on paps of the kids.
Will and Kate had to have known the reaction from taking a budget flight. Personally, if Harry were my brother, I’d have taken a train to minimize any comparisons.
I despise that pedophile Andrew but this is entirely on the Cambridges. Andrew did not stage these paps for the Cambridges, Willism.and his wife did. Andrew did not leak the Sussexes’ trip and use of private jets, William.and his people did. Andrew did not provide any inside details to the Cambridges’ entourage including that detail about Carol, William and his wife fid. Andrew’s scandal IS STILL IN THE NEWS regardless of whether the Sussexes get roasted or not. No, I am now, more than ever, convinced the Cambridges are working super hard to destroy the Sussexes. Now whether they succeed is million dollar question. Remember Emily Andrews, Dan Wooten et al. stating that the smear campaign to destroy the Sussexes was originating from Harry’s family? Yeah, I believe them now.
The idea that William is some kind of mastermind who can manipulate the press has been proven wrong so many times (Rose Hanbury being the most recent example). The racist RRs and courtiers don’t need any help. They can be racist and horrible all on their own.
The fact the Rose story was hushed up, and a reporter tweeted about a gag order, shows William does have that kind of manipulative tendencies and power. And threatening to use EU human rights laws in lawsuits to cover up his private Willy wanderings? Please.
I look forward to the stans trying to suggest that there just happened to be a paparazzi at the Aberdeen airport at the exact time they were landing. And a Carole mention in the article too.
Can Kate not go anywhere without her mother? She’s in her late 30s. It’s pathological at this point.
Betsy, Lol! Carole is there protecting her investment. Every since the 🌹 drama, she has been there watching the kids, I assume, so the “lovely couple” can perhaps reconnect. Heir #4 maybe?
I don’t think there’s ever been a paparazzo in Aberdeen unless called there 🤣
I asked on the Daily Mail how did they know where to set up the camera. My comment actually made it through.
@Betsy – I take at least one vacation a year with my mom and she accompanies my sisters and their kids on most family vacations. They enjoy spending time together. It’s a pretty normal thing.
P.S. The paps were at Aberdeen when they snapped photos of Pedo Andy leaving Balmoral last week.
Pathological to spend time with your mum? If we had the means my mum would accompany my family on similar trips. Time with your loved ones is precious and should never be taken for granted.
Pathological when the relationship between W&K cannot survive without Carole as buffer. Two overgrown adolescents and their adult nanny.
If you say so.
This just makes me not like them that much more. The entire family makes me sick. They are such Hypocrites!!!!!! Team H and M all the way!!!! All the while keeping Randy Andy out of the news………he is sooooooooo GUILTY is it unreal.
The plane would have been booked weeks if not months ago because they took multiple front rows for family and staff.
BUT the photographers being right there to capture it is obviously planned.
Another one who thinks that in UK you need to book a low cost flight months before… seriously? Are you all so misinformed?
Majority of domestic flights in UK are half empty by my experience and not very difficult for royals to snatch an entire flight (also given that loganair is running a similar flight at almost the same time from Norwich).
This could have been comfortably booked while the other 2 were in Nice, just saying… and forcing the security detail to vet anyone on the flight at light speed.
@BABS1986 meghan and harry aren’t looking for attention for themselves which is why the British media is going after them.
@Eliza, you’re right that the press are clearly planned. There are no press lurking around Norwich airport, where nothing ever happens.
However as @StarGreek said, these flights are rarely full and they could have easily got tickets for an entire family very cheaply. They’ve travelled many times before from Norwich to Scotland but funnily enough people haven’t spotted them.
On one hand this goes to show that the Cambridges are using the Meghan & Harry situation to their full advantage rather than being supportive.
On the other hand it shows all of those people saying that Royals couldn’t possibly travel first class on a public flight are wrong. Even in economy they can pass by unnoticed.
Nahema
There is no way they passed unnoticed after their security detail had to vet anyone on the flight, depending on how many people were there too (some might have been moved to another flight).
The vetting is security protocol and anyone refusing to undergo the check was moved on the loganair flight.
As a UK taxpayer this stunt enrages me on so many levels.
They have far spent more of my money in booking this flight and for extra security at both airports than if they had simply refuelled a private jet.
And if they wanted to go green, they needed to go there by train.
@StarGreek that’s not true and I think you have an inflated idea of the entourage they’re flying with and the security checks involved for travel, of which the public have no prior knowledge. As I have said before, the Cambridges have travelled this way many times before unnoticed. Nobody would have even known they were boarding and nobody would have been removed from the flight just to accommodate them.
It’s notable that only now they’re being photographed… just after the Sussex’s have been called out for private jet use. This is an obvious stunt.
Whether or not rail travel would have been more efficient is debatable and I’m not going to sit here calculating the cost with unknown variables like the number of people travelling. I can tell you though that taking the train to Scotland is not a direct route from their nearest station, Kings Lynn.
Also nobody is saying that the royals must travel in the most environmentally friendly manner possible. They’re not expected to slum it in economy. They’re angry about the blatantly wasteful use of private jets. It’s a valid criticism, just as getting papped on an economy flight where you’ve never been papped before is a valid thing to criticise. It shows they’re aware of the issue and are using it to their full advantage rather than being supportive.
I briefly worked for 2 minor Royals (so the heir to the throne will even have more staff and security) and all your comment is entirely wrong.
I am not the ‘public’, as I haven’t been reading gossip websites, I go by my first-hand experience.
Yes @StarGreek and you’re assuming I have not worked for these people. Our paths may have crossed
I am assuming because apparently you think that they were not able to almost fill a 44-seat plane with their staff, including nannies and security, or that there were no checks of other passengers done by their security detail. If you think that, you never worked for a public figure.
Yes the public wouldn’t have had prior knowledge so they were 1) moved to another flight with different company 2) entirely possible that anyone boarding in Norwich was already vetted following their bookings.
I doubt our paths crossed as I used to work in Scotland at that time.
Interesting @strageek and naheema. Out of curiosity, how exactly do they vet people? If I was booked on a flight they wanted to take what would they be doing to vet me? Checking for police records etc or does it go deeper than that?
@Your cousin Vinny if you work for them vetting is a long process, including family history, work history and police checks for criminal records.
For passengers it should stop at checking their police records… through their passports? I know they do it but no idea how long it would take and it is not a normal border check.
However, the more I have read about this story, the more I am convinced that people on that flight were travelling with them. A friend of mine, years ago, tried to make her story appear on the Daily Mail, she said it was impossible to get anywhere for weeks. Bit suspicious the Daily Mail interviewed a passenger or the passenger got in touch with them so easily. Everything points out to a fully booked flight by the Cambridges, as they have probably done in the past already… this is the case for other celebrities who don’t own a private jet. They only made it appear like they were boarding an ordinary flight just this time.
Kate took nine security people with her when she went to her cousin’s wedding, at the hotel being blockaded because of their anti-LGBT stance. Nine. They could easily fill a plane with their entourage.
I’ve always been based in Norfolk. They wouldn’t have been travelling with 44 members of staff and security. If this was a public event then just maybe but it wasn’t. While RPO’s travel with their Royals, lots of the security work is picked up by the local police force of whichever area they’re travelling to. While I’m no expert in the security aspect, I suspect the background of each passenger was checked and extra stringent security checks at boarding, possibly even including sniffer dogs (although Norwich airport is already usually very tight with that).
Again, you wouldn’t be aware what was happening. You would just think they’re being extra cautious, which is not unusual in an airport anyway.
They would have been lambasted had they flown privately in the midst of the negative coverage of Harry & Meghan doing so.
But the scandal about Harry and Meghan wouldn’t have allowed the security detail to vet people in time for this flight.
However it is entirely possible this low cost flight was booked while Harry and Meghan were off to France. Plus who leaked the fact they had flown using a private jet?
No they wouldn’t have because a lot of the counter arguments to them taking private jets is that they don’t “preach” about the environment like Harry and Meghan do, that’s how the tabloids would have reported it.
Right, to paraphrase someone from yesterday – with William taking the private jet to Davos to preach about climate change.
This move by the Cambridges was so transparent and self-serving it’s stomach-turning. They take private jets all the time. Clearly they want to inflict actual damage on the Sussexes. I will never have a good thought about them again.
why do you assume the worst when it’s about them and the best about meg and harry? people obviously want to think well about one couple and think bad things about the other couple.
Thank you horseandhound! In no way do I agree with the racist attacks on Meghan, or indeed any of the hounding of the sussexes in the press, but Celebitchy readers really do only see things in black and white! Meghan and Harry have made a lot of (avoidable) mistakes in the first year of marriage, and continue to live on an extravagant scale (cottage renovations, wardrobe of expensive ill fitting clothes, private jets, OTT baby showers). All this , while expecting everyone to listen when they tell us to be green and limit our family sizes. Just proves that despite all the debacles of the last 30 years, the RF listen to neither the public nor their advisors.
@horseandhound
Because after Andrew, they are the worst. And I say this as someone who dislikes them all.
The cottage was going to be renovated regardless of whether they were going to move in or not, but let’s be real, if the Cambridges wanted they could have stopped the tabloids from publishing these pics and videos if they wanted to, but they chose not to – which says a lot. It’s funny how all the extravagance is only linked to the Sussexes, the Cambridges also have a expensive wardrobe, have taken private jets (including regular helicopter rides as others have pointed out) but somehow the only normal ones are the Cambridges. They also had a very expensive renovation of their own home and recently had the hedge fence of their house extended in order to protect their privacy. I’m sure this is also true for the other royal family members not just the Cambs and Sussexes. People on this site have criticized Harry and Meghan a lot as well, it’s not black and white here, just go back and read the comments under the stories regarding the cost of her wardrobe, Frogmore Cottage’s renovation and also the baby shower, there were a lot of people criticizing them about this. Harry and Meghan have never said they should limit family sizes to save the environment, his comment about having two kids when talking to Jane Goodall was taken out of context by the tabs. The royal who has said that people should stop limit how many kids they have is William.
@stargreek – I’m curious do you say they are the worst because you met them or heard gossip through the royals?
they do this every year, so yes, staged (twirling my finger against my temple in a sign for you’re crazy)
They do this every year, but somehow avoid being pictured doing it, until this year. Like I said, staged.
If that plane went down, Harry and Meghan would end up King and Queen. Just saying. I’m surprised no one noticed them or got pics at ‘Norwich International AIrport’, which is my local and is essentially a large hut and a runway where you walk out on the tarmac to the aircraft. There isn’t usually anywhere to hide for any waiting passengers.
LOL!!
Wow, just wow.
…and soooo juvenile!
If the queen is worried about Wills cracking under pressure, she needs to keep worrying. Hard. This has gone from juvenile to pathological.
We don’t need anymore proof that Will and Kate are working with the tabloids. They’ve just exposed themselves.
In a slight defence to Will & Kate, members of the BRF have always had a “go-to” in the media. Charles and Diana had duelling go-to’s when they were married. They all have their favourites. One of the things I felt was an asset for Meghan was her media savvy skills – although I fear she is in such an alternate universe that they might not be much help to her now.
I am so very happy to pop over to CB and see that other people @JustSayin’ had the exact same reaction I did. Whatevs Camp Cambridge & Prince Andrew. We see you.
Bravo to William and Kate for raising a wonderful family.
Before he gets awarded green royal of the year… It’s still a flight—couldn’t they have taken the train? 🙄
Yep, doing London Aberdeen is also possible by train so not green enough dear W&K, try again
Train or even driving there. Taking the plane for this distance even as a budget flight is still a waste compared to greener options.
If they really wanted to be green, they could have walked. Or ridden their bikes. Or ride shared with another driver who was also going to Aberdeen.
I say this in jest because the whole thing is ridiculous af!
Lol!!
Sophie did, for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, to raise money. Cycled from Palace of Holyroodhouse to Buckingham Palace 😉
Just think how hands on they would have looked biking to Scotland and pulling the kids in bike trailers :).
“Looking like the archtypical family man on holiday, William pulled his children in a bike trailer. Kate was keen to be green.”
I’ll not be satisfied with their greenness til they book seats on a Greyhound bus for their next tour of America.
The Queen takes the train to various locations. IDK if she takes the train to Scotland.
Yes, she takes the train to Balmoral. She doesn’t like helicopters, or planes unless necessary. (She’s not all that green though, she loved the royal yacht Britannia).
Or driven?
Didn’t Kate take a helicopter from Norfolk to London once (while the Queen took a train around the same time)?
This is very in-your-face move. I don’t recall them ever taking a budget flight to Scotland before.
They’ve taken flights FROM Scotland to nice locale’s but yeah they normally use private jets (usually the Duke of Westminsters).
This is just obvious PR.
I’d eat my hat if they didn’t board a helicopter from Aberdeen.
It is so staged, where is the security for example?
Exactly. Where is the security detail?? How convenient that it’s just him and the kids being “normal” and such. Puhleeze
They have gone through Scotland when they’re trying to avoid getting caught. Carole being there is interesting. Are they going for another “The Queen loves Carole” pap shot in the car? Or are they headed out of Scotland to a beach vacation?
I don’t think you can fly from Aberdeen to a beach location, unless they had a private jet in Aberdeen waiting for them… which, at this point, could be totally possible hahaha
@NOTA – interesting Carole was there, it seems that they are making a real effort to show how much she is still part of the Cambridge family, esp after that fail article stating that she was going to be taking a back seat and finally letting the Cambridges run their own household.
I guess we’ll see come Sunday if there is any staged pap strolls with Carole smugly gurning for the press.
Now if Doria had accompanied H&M to their Ibiza/Malaga trips, the press would have given themselves a rage induced stroke over it. But tumbleweeds when its the Middletons, who openly cash in on their royal connections.
And yeah they totally got on a helicopter to Balmoral, there is no way they’d do the 1hr 20min drive from the airport to the estate.
The Cambridges use the helicopter all the time.
Yes she did and she was totally ripped apart by the press for it.
Actually they’ve travelled this way from Norfolk to Scotland many times previously but we don’t usually hear about it. It’s really obvious why we are now seeing photos. Especially since Norwich airport is tiny, with only a few flights per day and zero press presence. This was entirely set up.
if “we don’t usually hear about it” then how do you know it’s been many times?
Am I missing something here? FlyBe went bankrupt and they were not operating domestic flights anymore?
ETA: they do on a few selected routes lol price is £ 150… but I’d bet it doesn’t really matter even if they had to get to Manchester by helicopter to fly an easy jet flight to Edinburgh LMAO
I wouldn’t put it past the Royal Family to purchase a whole plane and give tickets for free to other passengers as a gift, just in order to put on this charade
Someone needs to explain where the security detail was too.
I just went on the web and looked for flights from Norwich to Aberdeen. They are still operating flights between those two cities.
Yep edited my post. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if their staff went online looking for the cheapest flight to Aberdeen from any location in UK 🤣
Transparent, petty, spiteful, very very telling.
But it will work.
(Let’s just shove that private helicopter the Cambridges use for so many trips into a drawer and not mention it again, kay? And that private plane William took to Davos to tall at that climate change summit. They don’t fit the story.)
The stans will eat it up but anyone with a brain knows that a person cannot just randomly walk onto a tarmac without express permission. And many blue checks on twitter are calling it out.
The only people falling for this are the fanatics and anti Meghan trolls on the internet. The rest of us can smell this PR stunt, and it stinks. Lots of people are calling them out. It may give them a little bit of good press and laughs, but it’s also backfiring because it’s too obvious.
I really dislike the Cambridges now.
I never cared about them one way or another but I despise them now. This removes any doubt about who is behind all of this.
They are becoming so petty and juvenile now it’s embarrassing.
I completely agree. They’ve gone from bring and work shy to actively unlikeable
Right? This was so incredibly petty. I used to think Charles was stoking some of this brother-on-brother fighting because it made him look more kingly. But honestly, now I think William is just a spiteful child.
Oh FFS these two really do enjoy throwing Meghan under the bus, don’t they?
Anna…they are not throwing the Duchess of Sussex under the bus. Did you see that lovely smile to Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” at Smart Works yesterday? She’s going about her business and looking GOOD in the process.
I have to agree here. Meghan is actually visiting one of her patronages in August. And she’s going to keep working because that is what she does. The tour in South Africa will be another record setting event because we know they actually are interested in the people and places they visit. And of course baby Archie being there will add a ton of interest.
Its the Thursday of the UK August bank holiday…. To get these seats they would have to have booked well, well in advance….. this was not a carefully planned photo op…. they got papped same as H&M boarding their private jet
Was coming here to say this, Juniper. Or is it possible they changed travel plans given all the grief H&M got this week?
DD, are you in UK?
As from my comfortable chair in England I can book a domestic flight for all over UK in a few hours.
It is not like Thanksgiving in USA lol
Oh, please. These are the royals. If they say they need the plane, they will have the plane. Who do you think you’re kidding?
Oh come on Juniper you are making too much sense. Don’t you know the Cambridges don’t do anything without thinking how it could hurt Meghan.
I don’t like the Royals (I would abolish the monarchy if I could) but if you think this is not staged I have a bridge to sell you.
You’re kidding yourself if you think these 2 couldn’t jump on a flight at the last minute…. even if it was 250 pounds each, it still is a far cry from the cost of a private jet and still doable for them.
And who flies in UK domestically even for bank holidays? I can book a ticket from Norwich to Aberdeen tomorrow for 147 pounds.
I guess paparazzi just randomly hang out on the tarmac at the Aberdeen airport? I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you then.
+1,000
Exactly. It’s a very small airport.
I was thinking they did have this booked a while ago too, although it’s not like they could go on a private plane now after the Sussexes and all the publicity. Imagine that clap back. It’s not like with Andrew the monarchy isn’t having issues. Five bucks Charles and William will be on commercial for a while. Also, I’m sure the paparazzi are stalking the airports now for all royals too. I wonder if we will see the Sussexes coming back from their vacation on a public flight? Now this, at the very least, looks like bad timing for the Cambridges, as it does look like they are throwing the Sussexes under the bus. With kids going to school though you are a bit limited in how you do these kind of trips. Still the optics are bad.
I’m really starting to think this is a concerted effort by all members of the royal family to shield the monarchy from Andrew’s bad publicity. I mean these all seem like pretty rookie mistakes. I’m less likely to believe the Cambridges are smart enough to be in on it than the Sussexes, but I think they know it too. This just ignites the rumors of the war between the Sussexes and the Cambridges which is also a really big selling tabloid story. If you think about it the Cambridge and Sussex crap sells stories, but the Andrew stories can kill the monarchy. If you want to be a “working” royal or at least paid from the “working” royal money chest what would you want? Plus there is the possibility that both William and Harry love and feel their Uncle is innocent. It wouldn’t be unusual for family members to feel that way.
Noway, FlyBe is a low budget airline. It means their planes are ridiculously small, not too many seats, there is only economy class available, and literally ‘peasants’ all around them. It is not like travelling on a BA flight in first class.
Anyone on that flight had to be better prior to flying.
If you think these 2 haven’t booked a whole flight for themselves (including security arrangements against terrorism attacks and death threats) you are wrong.
Plus add that there is no way that they were driven down to Aberdeen, they flew by helicopter there as Digital Unicorn says above in the thread.
I have been to Balmoral and roads are awful.
Agree with the rest of your post.
The flight could have been booked in advance but the paparazzi on the tarmac required special permission to be there. There are massive security issues at airports around the world and you can’t just randomly show up there. There was a terrorist attack at the Glasgow airport in 2007 so rules were tightened across the UK since then for access.
Even being at the edge of the airport taking photos gets you a visit from security, which clearly wasn’t the case with that video since George obviously turns to look at the person filming.
Internal flights by these budget airlines tend to be on small planes and given that the school has started again in Scotland it won’t have been that busy, the article states it was a 44 seat plane. Plus its Aberdeen, not a place thats a great tourist attraction as most travellers who go there work in the North Sea.
Their entourage wouldn’t have been small, it would have included the Cambridges, several security people, Carole and the nannies (Maria is the only one mentioned). You’re talking about at least 12 people all together.
The Cambridges have previous for booking things out in the name of security. On their honeymoon the booked ALL the villa’s on the island they stayed on – we know this as the owner blabbed to the European and Australian press.
Out of interest do we know it was a pap or a random member of the public who shot the clip and then sold it to the Fail?
@DigitalUnicorn
Even if Aberdeen airport is small, I doubt an unknown person took a pic of them, unless they were part of the royal party.
The Daily Fail never releases who sends the pics if they are not professional photographers so it will be difficult to clear that up.
@Stargeek: Thanks for the info, under copyright law they need to credit who took it and if it came via a photo/video agency i.e. PA they would credit it to them. If the Fail bought the footage outright they wouldn’t give credit or at least credit themselves.
Either way, going on a flight with the plebs always meant this was going to get to the press, they were counting on it.
@DigitalUnicorn
Agree. Although during the day I almost got convinced the flight was entirely booked by their party. How come that passenger got in touch with the Daily Mail straightaway? Isn’t the case that the writer of the article got fed the entire story by the Cambridges PR staff in order to make it appear they just jumped on an ordinary flight like everybody else?
It just doesn’t make sense. My inlaws are upper class and you wouldn’t catch them boarding a low cost flight under the threat of torture. And they are not even posh landed aristocracy in UK.
Maybe Carole filmed them? I’m mostly kidding, but it explains why we don’t see her in the shot and why George keeps turning around In the video. And it would certainly explain why the DM published it right away and has yet to name the photographer.
I don’t think the commercial flight was done to deliberately smear H&M but the leak to the press about it was deliberate. Ma Middleton was on the flight too, and she is one of the masterminds, along with Kate’s PS.
The Sussex trip was probably planned well in advance too. So Normal Bill and Keen Katie KNEW that the Sussex family were traveling. They’re probably the ones who leaked the details of the Sussex trip in order to make a ‘statement’ with their low-budget trip.
👏👏👏👏
No- William was getting back at Harry for the 2 children remark…..
we’ve gone from Diana and Charles using the press in their war to the brothers doing the same.
ps- for those who didn’t quite understand my comment, I’ll explain: you see, William is the type to hold a Grudge, and the two children remark from Harry has caused a mutual dig situation to progress to an all out war (unfortunately)….William has no intention of going green at all…..he enjoys the private jet set etc lifestyle….he will sneak his family on ultra luxe private travel and accomodations when the coast is clear and Piers Morgan will help him (secretly) in that regard because Piers believes William, as a future King, is fully entitled to a life of luxury while Harry and his family are not. But in reality, Piers is just holding a Grudge against MM for the almighty snub. However, as usual, William underestimates the power (the almighty connections) of the Sussexes, because, remember, Harry married an American with established, powerful intl connections.
It’s all become cat and mouse between the brothers. Very cat and mouse.
Honestly, I still don’t understand outrage over the 2 kids remark, it was just a candid conversation with Jane Goodall where he said he only wanted two kids – not for the sake of the environment but probably just his own family planning decision. It’s not a dig at William either. If he is genuinely outraged by this, I really don’t know what to say, its so childish.
If William did this to his brother for that pretty vague remark, he’s got serious issues.
Ooohh normal bill narrative is going on again. Geeez, weren’t they the ones to submit a planning permission to put extra tall hedges so the plebs wouldn’t see them taking off in their helicopters? I see through your farce bill.
Yep, Gingersnaps. When they want to trek over to Caroles’ without the plebs knowing or some other inconsequential trip.
If there was ever a doubt who is behind the smears, it is quite clear now. Wow.
A passenger … “later I noticed Kate’s mother was sat in front of me” Carole…that you?? I find it hard to believe that NOBODY on the flight noticed them or snuck a cellphone pic. Also – PROTOCOL!! Direct heirs are not supposed to travel together – it’s the Tower for the Cambridge’s you guys.
Security detail wouldn’t have allowed anyone to take pictures and there would have been vetting in prior to flight for anyone boarding that flight.
William is the heir to the throne, when he moves he has a lot of staff and security.
Charles is heir to the throne. William is second in line.
Can you imagine the uproar if Doria followed H & M to Scotland…the outrage and indignation over spending tax payers money on Meghan’s mother.
Anyway, I believe that the Sussexes are already in Scotland, keeping everyone guessing how they got there. I think we may see them going to Church this weekend…nice!
Anyone who thinks that H&M getting lots of bad publicity will in the long run help the Cambridges is a fool because it just won’t. It just drags everyone down.
There would not be enough fainting couches in Britain. Honestly believe this is why her mother chose not to relocate to the UK. She’s like,”umh, ya’ll can have that.”
The Sussexes are not in Scotland. Harry has an engagement this Saturday.
People will fawn all over this story and they know it. It satisfies both the need to further vilify Harry and Meghan while also placing the Cams on this huge “relatable” pedestal they’ve got going on. At this point they know exactly what they’re doing by making themselves look better at the expense of their brother and sister in law, It’s sad.
Yup. Taking a smear campaign being used by a racist media to better themselves in the public. The people who will fall for this media garbage are not nice people. They are racist and full of classism and xenophobia. Why would you even want them liking you?
This is so telling. It makes me despise William now.
They must really think we are stupid. So transparent is right. We see you Wills and Kate for what you two really are!!!
Which makes me cheer Harry and Megs even more! Idiots. To think this would be completely obvious to those with half a brain cell.
There are stupid people that will eat this up.
and stupid people asking for a second helping!
Normal Bill is sooo frugal and environmentally friendly.
If he really was he could have travelled by train.
I don’t know if this will accomplish what William thinks it will. It’s so transparent that there’s a good chance it will boomerang back on the Cambridges. It makes William look screamingly petty (which he is).
It’s interesting that The Doolittles would rather smear Harry and Meghan rather than actually put the leg work in.
My heart really goes out to Harry. He has always been so supportive of his brother and sister in law but these two are clearly so insecure of their own abilities that they prefer to throw Harry under the bus.
I hope Harry eventually takes his family’s away from the toxic Windsor’s.
Please make your minds up – not like they totally didn’t take commercial flights to their holidays this year and last year, and several other times in the past to. There’s pictures of it! Did they make sure to get papped then to – in competition to Harry and his future wife flying privately several years into the future??? Funny how this info is available in every place BUT here! I understand if it wouldn’t be allowed here if it goes against the Sussex’s though.
And what about the pictures of Harry and Meghan on their private plane? Seems like they wanted to get papped to if we are supporting this “getting papped boarding a plane” narrative.
Oh stop. Harry and Meghan have both flown commercially many times.
The Cambridge’s have. I know we all like to pretend the Sussex’s fly more commercially here but sorry to say, it’s untrue. They had 3 private flights in a month, so don’t back that up with “how they’ve also flown commercially” because it would literally be 1 commercial flight a year compared to several private flights a month. The Cambridge’s have been on several tours and Mustique holidays since they’ve had their 1st kid and majority of them have been commercial. There’s pictures online, don’t delude yourself just because you prefer the other couple more.
Are you counting helicopter use?
Their tours don’t take place on commercial flights. The countries they visit usually send them a plane at the expense of the taxpayers of that country. And we could go over their trips with the jet owned by the Duke of Westminster which includes a trip to the south of France days after a terrorist event which required the French govt to divert extra security for them. Yes selfless eco warriors the Cambridges are.
Pfft, commercially does not mean low cost flights. Not even my MIL boards low cost flights with ‘peasants’ and she is not a royal.
First time I see W&K boarding a low cost flight, sorry. If you have pics of other times they did this I will stand corrected.
Thank you for being the voice of reason. Honestly I dont know what people want any more.
Way to ignore everyone’s replies.
And we want them to work not attempt to throw Meghan under the bus.
As a UK taxpayer I want them to work and not waste my money in charades like this one.
And if they had taken the private jet the Queen already owns, the expenses would have been less than all this stunt to please people like you styla.
In other news, I have a Scottish bridge to sell you, likely the white one near Balmoral estate… 😀
“People like you” Hahahahahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahaha! Bahaha!
You want the royal family to work hahahahahaha!
Super.
Stila, as a UK taxpayer I also consider your post very disrespectful. Yes, they are supposed to ‘work’, because the role of the BRF is ceremonial, they are not supposed to rule.
So going around to inaugurations and charities, etc. is their work.
I guess I’m in the minority here when I say that I dont think William is at the head of the smear campaign. HEAR ME OUT. Is he an a-hole for not defending them and using it to make himself look better? Yes. But I dont think he is the one running to the press, I think he uses it to benefit him which is just as horrible.
I think this whole taking private planes thing is completely beyond the point of what we are talking about, but we have really gotten to that nitpicking point of pointing fingers about who is doing what while Andrew, again, is pushed under the rug. It’s to the point where sites are counting how many times they have seen royals take private planes and its like… why, let’s focus on the real scandal here.
So transparent…the Cambs fly private as much as the Sussexes so it’s gross that they are trying to pull this shitty move right now, what a gross family (the BRF)
@Originallala, they fly a lot more commercial flights than the Sussex’s. There’s earlier photos when they just had 2 children and were flying on a commercial flight, same when they just had George. His first flight when 6 momths old in 2013-4 was also on a BA flight. Their holidays to Mustique this year and last year were on commercial flights to. This info and pictures are available online so don’t believe everything they tell you here. I for once decided to look up all the info spewed here and discovered it’s not anywhere close to facts.
That flight from 2014 when William ditched Kate and his baby’s first vacation to go hang out with his ex Jecca on an all male hunting trip – they took an hour and a half helicopter ride to the estate of the Duke of Westminster.
There is no direct commercial flight to Mustique so they took a private jet at some point to get to it.
The SECOND leg to Mustique is always on a private plane.
@KJ You’re also trying to compare and equate 8 years of flights with the Cambridges with fewer than 2 years of the Sussexes in your argument. That’s disingenuous.
It also ignores the Cambridges heavy use of helicopters and the high hedges the requested to hide their frequent use of helicopters.
They often pull the trick of flying commercial somewhere like Scotland, then using the private jet from the Duke of Westminster. The paps caught on to that a year or two ago, so they’ve been tracking the Westminster plane.
Meanwhile Meghan’s back at work with a new behind-the-scenes video with SmartWorks.
…and looking beautiful in the process!
Exactly nota! I really loving how Meghan’s taking the time and investing her energy in causes that matter, while ignoring all the mindless chatter.
Right before she and Harry also head off to Balmoral…on a private flight?? Whilst papped doing so. But you will say it was the paps stalking them and invading their privacy.
C’mon Nota, if this was Kate working right before a family vacation you would claim it was her being keen to drag out one more work engagement before she jets off for yet another holiday after all that hard work. I see it’s Meghan though – I guess we should trust your judgement on how hardworking she is!
The difference is Meghan has shown she continues to work right up and through any breaks. Meghan wouldn’t be getting one more work engagement in like other royals we know, because it always comes out that she continues to work and take calls/plan things continuously. She’s not a one and done. And I do like Kate. I think Williams doesn’t want her working anymore than she does, and she’s the one doing the heavy lifting in her marriage. I do hold her responsible for studying up on/knowledge of the events she does do, and being engaged when there.
I’m fine with the Sussex family flying private on irregular vacations for now because of the insane racist hostility toward them in addition to the regular royal stresses. If my baby is connected to a family like the Windsors, no chances taken, I’m flying safe and private.
She’s promoting her patronage so she obviously wasn’t papped. If we want to review how often Kate has visited her patronages this year compared to Meghan, who was on mat leave, it’s a pretty pathetic comparison.
“if it was Kate working” it would be hell freezing over or darn near.
Oh look, another brand new Meghan hater, I mean “Kate fan”. As obvious as W&K on a commercial flight.
Kj, I don’t even like Meghan, they are all wasting my taxpayer’s money as far as I am concerned, but this ‘outing’ is so staged that only a fan of William and Kate would say it isn’t.
It is so transparent to be ridiculous.
And FlyBe is a low cost company, with no first class available. You really think they flew in economy with the peasants and MI5 was ok with it?
I should start selling bridges on this thread today, I will make a fortune before tonight.
KJ – we don’t have to “trust anyone’s judgement” on Meghan. She has proven herself as hard-working and enthusiastic time and time again. All this DESPITE being demeaned and threatened by her adopted country, the very country she’s supporting with her work, because she’s bi-racial and had the gall to marry into the BRF.
Meghan is still officially on maternity leave so the work she was doing on Vogue and Smartworks have to do with actual deadlines and launch dates, which is why she was working and promoting them. She has no official duties til the fall and she actually does approach her work seriously. Also is Balmoral really a vacation? It’s really a duty to pay respects to the queen. That’s why they took real breaks abroad. By the way she looks great and very fit in the video.
For whatever it’s worth Will and his two oldest took the same airlines last year. But it is obvious they didn’t get pics in previous years.
It seems like the paps have staked out the local airports this year. Is it because of Andrew or just to stalk Meghan.
They are shooting themselves in the foot. These two who take the helicopter for nearly everything flew to Scotland by budget flight? Evidence? The Daily Racist saying so?
If they really did, I tell you they hated every minute of it.
They likely booked the entire flight, gifting some free tickets to ‘peasants’ to corroborate their story. The security detail with this people is impressive, more than believed and if they flew all together in one plane 20 seats were occupied by staff plus empty ones for reason of security.
Plus the ordinary people who were with them were vetted in prior to flight. I had to deal with minor Royals years ago and you don’t go around these people without being vetted, MI5 doesn’t joke around… terrorist attacks alert are always on.
Agree. It was probably a bigger head ache and hassle for everyone using a commercial plane, which I think is a clue at how purposeful this flight actually is.
This is the kiss of death for William and Kate if anyone sees through their holier than thou act. It makes them look petty, insecure and makes it seem as if they were behind many of the media’s hateful stories.
And meanwhile, once again, nobody’s talking about the REAL scandal in the BRF.
That’s why this was so unnecessary. It looks petty and they are still on vacation anyway. They had plenty of time to get in the car and drive up.
“Later on I realized that Kate’s mother was sat a few rows in front of me.”
WTF was Ma Middleton doing on that flight???
Is Ma Middleton the Bill & Cathy’s adult nanny?
Enquiring minds want to KNOW!
She must not have been sharing her chutney, or we would’ve known it was her.
Carole has been their adult nanny for most of this relationship. They cannot function without her around to keep forcing them back together. This relationship was a college romance that should have ended at graduation.
i’m starting to admire Carole! She’s not sitting around letting her investment efforts fritter away. GO CAROLE!!
My favorite missed detail is the DM story was written by a Joe Middleton. You can’t make this up. Carole putting the family scribes up to this. I 👀 you.
Didn’t know they were on the plane, eh? The heir to the British throne and all the surrounding security apparatus?
Yeah, they blended into the scenery! Nobody noticed the circus around them LOL
🤣🤣🤣🤣 plus nobody vetted those fellow travellers, right?
“What’s your job?” “I do a bit of terrorism on the side, no worries” 🤣
Imagine the nightmare of sharing a budget flight with a Royal! I’d be so pissed LOL
I was vetted by MI5 before working with 2 minor Royals, they even pretend to know about who your great great ancestors were and anything that might be suspicious in your life gets flagged. It is that way or no way when you are around those people.
Anyone on this thread believing that the 2 of them happily jumped on an ordinary flight with lots of plebs and everything was not scrutinised in advance is ready to be sold a few bridges…. 🤣
StarGreek – I imagine it is so (and probably should be, as with every other high profile/diplomatic/state person). However, none of the passengers chose to be in close proximity or book a flight with them. Imagine if something really small and insignificance means you are kept from the flight just because the Cambridges want to be seen as normal and unspoiled?
Cee, the fact is there is actually another flight going to Aberdeen from Norwich at about the same time.
In my opinion the security detail didn’t have to vet about 70 passengers, they vetted some for show to provide witnesses for the Daily Mail later and then the rest was moved on the other flight. Bit of a hassle but I was recently moved from one flight to another approximately going to the same location for bad weather reasons, I think that could be easily done for the Royals as well.
My experience with domestic flights in UK is that many are half empty at all times, except those coming to and from London Heathrow and Gatwick.
However if I was moved to another flight because of them I would ring the Guardian as soon as I land 🤣
@StarGreek, Having worked for two minor royals, I am compelled to ask you how much of the Megan BS being shoveled by the press do you believe or has some truth. I have a friend who worked for major US tabloid (now in book & online publishing) and she always said that no matter how outrageous the story there is always a small grain of truth in it somewhere.
@BayTampaBay it was many years ago, and ‘big’ royals usually have separate staff, security and PR people, so I am not claiming knowledge of all their ‘stuff’. However, I know well how it works in matters of protocol, requirements and duties (clue: it’s a nightmare).
I saw and heard enough to understand that if they want to keep their shíte locked down, they are quite able to sweep everything under an eternal rug.
Those leaks are usually due to ‘groups’ around the royals who act against each other and stuff ‘mysteriously’ gets in the press. It is entirely possible that some Meghan stories have a 10% of truth or 20% or more, that some staff is mad or annoyed at her for whatever reason and rants to the papers.
It is also possible that some stories might be entirely fabricated due to the fact the British Press is now geared towards racism and xenophobia. Before Brexit they nearly had a daily cover against EU immigrants. Once Meghan was on the scene, they changed target.
I’m gonna guess, the next pap shots will be the kids sitting on the pond banks learning how to fish or playing in the gardens. Qweenie knows that shot with Andrew did not go over well.
https://twitter.com/ellievhall/status/1164528517658435584
LMAO the Cambridges are so trasparent for everybody now
Well no one can randomly access the tarmac to film people so there had to be permission obtained and advance notice given. Since 9/11 all airports have security around their perimeters, especially in the UK where have been attacks directly at airports.
Bingo.
Ok so then how did they get pictures of Harry and Meghan getting on their flight?? Did they call the paps too? Since no one on the tarmac could possibly have a phone to snap a photo/video with. Must have all been set up in advance.
@LNG all I’m gonna say is look at quality of pics. The Sussexes’ pics are grainy, which means taken at long range. The Cambridges’ pictures are very clear, and staged.
Kate’s housewife skirt! LMAO
The skirt! Like a Hasidic lady! I am shocked it’s so long and not flying up! As someone said, this was a college relationship that should’ve ended at graduation- Carole has put in a lot of hard work.
I felt the malice in these pics as soon as I saw them. After the 3 year Meghan smear campaign and Rose I will never respect or view William in the same light.
Petty differences aside, Meghan is currently being targeted by Far Right activists in the UK who are threatening her safety. These pap pics by William will only inflame the situation further. I get that isn’t at the forefront of his mind but this is very irresponsible at a time like this.
BTW that may also explain why they have had to fly solely private jets recently.
Everyone who is not UK-born and white is targeted in UK now, Brexit has legitimized racism and xenophobia on a scale never seen before.
I have been attacked twice by far right nutters and I am not even a PoC. I cannot even imagine what Meghan goes through…
Kind of like what’s happening here in the states. But, if I thought I was going to be in the minority in a few years, I would definitely not be antagonizing those who will probably be in the majority.
This looks so obviously staged – I know they’ve taken commercial flights before, but I can’t remember them ever taking them for vacations, and the TIMING. I will say this, obviously William doesn’t care about settling any beef with Harry, because this on purpose move just pits the families even more against each other in the racist media.
According to a poster at the DataLounge, Bill & Cathy went up the stairs to board the budget flight and immediately deplaned out the back rear door to ascend another set of stairs to a nearby waiting private jet! LOL! LOL!
As funny as it is – it sounds like a cartoon – I doubt this happened, other than in the poster’s imagination.
OK I just snorted my coffee…LOL!!
Hahaha. Hilarious. Doubt it’s true but you are giving me life on a dreary rainy day.
Yeah…that DL story sounds absolutely fake.
But what a stupid person from royal family would dare take a private plane now after the media outrage? guys cool down. I am 100% sure the queen summoned all. the RF is under huge pressure of Brexit, Andrew, and the spending budget.
I am sure the queen will order all to cut on private jets and lay low for now.
the whole atmosphere in the united kingdom is not well now.
not because of Harry and Meghan but people are very worried about their future.
+1
Even if she “ordered” the family to take commercial flights, she didn’t also order a paparazzi on the tarmac to record it. You can’t just randomly roam on an airport tarmac without written permission. That’s not laying low at all.
I asked above, but I’ll ask again here – by that logic did Harry and Meghan also order a paparazzi to the tarmac to record them getting on the private plane? Doubtful. We see these sorts of pictures of royals on airplanes fairly regularly. Everyone has a phone. I think it’s just as likely that someone at the airport thought “Oh man this is a great story” and took some pics as William booked last minute on a commercial flight and arranged for paparazzi to be allowed on the tarmac.
I like Meghan, I think she is doing good work and that the British press is completely full of it. I think various courtiers and staff probably dislike her for not conforming to their bullshit expectations and drive a lot of the press (based on how info always leaked to the press back in the Charles/Diana and Fergie/Andrew days). When they pick at Meghan for every little thing she does it makes it impossible to have intelligent discussion when there is legitimate reason to be critical, which is too bad. All public institutions need to be covered by a free press, but where we are now with Meghan is ridiculous.
“When they pick at Meghan for every little thing she does it makes it impossible to have intelligent discussion when there is legitimate reason to be critical, which is too bad.”
@LNG, your above statement is the reason I am becoming exhausted on BRF blogging sites. It has become impossible to have an intelligent 360-discussion about any Royal issue.
@LNG
Some of the BRF might travel with photographers (or they used to). However, the pics in the DM seem too grainy to have been taken by someone with a good camera. I would tend to think they were taken by someone in their party or one of the other passengers allowed on the plane.
I never commented on William and Kate’s threads before, they are boring like héll, but this charade has costed me as a taxpayer more than them flying in a private jet. This is a huge waste of money for a publicity stunt and it annoys me deeply.
Looking at the photos from Nice and the video of the Cambridges, it’s obvious the video is taken much closer and there are no telephoto lenses to film a video. As for the everyone has a phone, well sure if it was a passenger on the same plane as them, but in a 44 seat plane who is likely to be on that plane who isn’t part of the entourage or heavily vetted. There’s no way that video ends up in the hands of the Daily Mail without explicit approval. William has stopped things from being printed before, especially involving his kids, but he simply chose not to this time.
If the queen doesn’t care enough to separate herself from pedo Andrew, I doubt she’s concerning herself with how private flights look all of a sudden.
Most mothers would never abandon their child under any circumstances.
@Bay We all know she never will abandon him, just don’t be photographed having a laugh together days after pictures of him with Epstein and underage girls come out.
Well I hope that H&M do use private planes when they think it serves a purpose. Why should the media dictate to them what they should and should not do.
I agree with you but that goes against the Sussex’s fans logic. People made up their minds long ago that the Cambridges are to blame for all the racism Meghan gets (If it was true both Harry and Meghan would treat Kate in public as they treat William, but no, they seem to like her).
Seriously, how stupid would their aids be if they allowed the Cambridges to flight on private planes at this moment? It would look terrible.
IMO it’s not TQ who ordered them, but common sense at the moment…and a quick win for the Cambridges to come out of this private plane mess smelling like roses.
When you are looking for a win against your only brother that’s not really the sign of being anything other than a jackass. William and Kate could have flown the same airline without arranging for a paparazzi to be on the tarmac to film the whole thing and then be provided to the DM as an exclusive. That’s what people are criticizing here.
What did they win? People are calling them out for this obvious PR stunt. They sold themselves and their children for good press and are escalating the attacks on Harry and Meghan. Not a good look for the Royal Family.
“What did they win?”
@M., The commentariat of The Daily Fail is eating this up with a spoon , then licking the bowl and pulling out the knives for the Sussexes.
@Nic919: I think we all agree that William and Harry haven’t been getting along for a while now (as opposed to Kate and Meghan who seem to be OK). So there is no brotherly love lost between them.
@M: they are pushing they brand as normal people who are thrifty blablabla…. and it works, simply google the news on their Scotland flight.
M., people on THIS site are calling them out for this obvious stunt. I guarantee elsewhere crazy people are foaming at the mouth over how smart and thrifty the Cambridges are compared to their “spendthrift” brother and sister-in-law! I agree that even if William didn’t out Harry and Meghan’s private plane flights, he definitely called the photographers to benefit from his budget flight.
Seems he got tired of using private jets and helicopters all the time, and needed a dose of peasantry to pull him through his privileged existence.
Also, imagine the security logistics and COST for this flight? It’s them plus nannies plus RPOs. Also, vetting everyone on board just because he wants to play-act middle class life. He’s a hypocrite.
Did he really make the kids carry their own bags too?? Oh, William.
Thats what I noticed too, George’s bag looks too big for him.
Well, when you’re being normal, you just gotta go full circle normal.
LMAO
Normal Bill and Cathy.
You hit this exactly right…it is pretty funny that we see the kids walking across the tarmac with George continuing to look back – but in the end it is incredibly depressing that William is part of the smear.
Probably looking for Maria.
Who is walking next to Kate, ready to jump in and do the work once the pap stroll was over.
You know what ALL the Royal Family should do? Take their holidays in Scotland, Wales, England or Northern Ireland. Just like Liz and her lifetime of holidays in Balmoral. Use your own stately homes and take advantage of the surrounding parks. Quit with the luxury resorts and hobnobbing with celebrities. Act different from celebs so that you are not mistaken for one. They won’t of course, but it might be a good move. Oh – and take the train!
Liz should crack open her personal bank account to pay for all of the security at her private residences of Balmoral and Sandringham. She has government housing. If she chooses to vacation elsewhere for months on end? She should have to pony up the millions it has cost through the decades to secure her private properties.
Ah yes, I agree. So should everyone else in the family. Charles and Camilla I think do have holidays abroad when they can make use of their big stately homes in the UK instead. Same for the Cambridge’s and the Sussex’s.
Btw I am neither a new “Kate fan” or “Meghan fan” like you claim. Quite an old lurker here, I just don’t get all the time in the world to hop onto all the Kate-hating threads like you have for years (some not even on Celebitchy. Yikes). And you’re clearly no Meghan fan either so it’s very rich that you accuse others.
LOL, sure Jan. Tumblr misses you.
Liz is no shining role model at the moment. So what if she doesn’t fly on private planes? She’s protecting her pedo son and deserves no respect or admiration from anyone. She’s as as hypocritical as the rest of them. And sadly, I don’t think much will change when Charles becomes king. He may trim the monarchy but I think he will still protect Andy.
Betty needs to dragged. She is a trashy has her pedo son.
This looks more like screenshots from a cellphone video than pap shots to me, but anyway—I think the one passenger probably mistook Maria for Carole? While they do fly private A LOT, the Cambridges do take commercial flights to and from Scotland at times, including after Zara’s wedding (they flew FlyBe and Harry flew EasyJet). I wish they had taken the train, but I remember it being a long trip from London to Aberdeen, and I can’t imagine Norfolk-Aberdeen being better, especially with three young kids.
I think Harry and William have been engaged in a PR tit-for-tat for a while now and need to stop.
No random person could get on the tarmac and take a cell phone video that closely. Only employees of the airport and they would end up getting fired if they did that. This was a planned paparazzi video with advance permission to be on the tarmac. And how did the DM get it so quickly? Who other than paparazzi would think of making an exclusive deal with the DM? Not a random person at all.
And what specifically has Harry done that’s a tit for tat with William? It’s the tabloids going after Harry and Meghan and until now William had nothing to do with that.
There is no PR tit for tat on Harry’s part though. All the titting and tatting is being done by William.
Cherrie, I think that depends on your POV. Will’s competitiveness has been discussed here pretty frequently, but I think Harry is just as competitive and their back and forth can run the full spectrum between playful and passive aggressive in the press. Again, that’s just my personal read on the situation—I know a lot of people here will disagree! 🙂
As for the photos/video, I personally think the paps could have been there for Meghan and Harry hoping for the money shot of them being (as I imagine the headlines) “Forced to Fly with the Public,” though I could also see an airport employee trying to cash in or a set up. Whatever the explanation, it reads as ice cold trolling, even though I don’t think the solution was to, like, show solidarity by taking yet another flight or helicopter.
In addition to potentially taking a petty swipe at his brother, I could also see Will/KP PR trying this move to make sure the convo didn’t turn back to the Cambridges’ private plane/helicopter use, or the nastier courtiers at BP having a hand in setting this up to “punish” Meghan and Harry for not allowing themselves be controlled.
Also, it’s not Jason anymore, right? This would be Christian Jones?
cherriepie…my coffee is all over my computer. LOL!!!
What airport would permit a paparazzi to be on the tarmac to just film random passengers just in case someone famous shows up? It’s a huge breach of security and considering actual terrorist attacks have taken place at UK airports, there is no way they would allow anyone to just hang about near the planes “just in case”.
The reaching to try to pretend this is random is really ridiculous. An airport is a secure location and not like a public street.
@Nic919 Chris Ship seems to be saying now that the video (which the DM took screenshots of) apparently came from a passenger on the plane vs paps, though that could just be his opinion. I’m curious to see if Rebecca English chimes in with where this exclusive came from.
I totally take your point about security, but the paps got pretty close to the airports Meghan and Harry were using, which I imagine also have strict security measures in place. So if these are pap photos, I have to imagine they’re long lens the way those were just based on the quality of them alone, but I also think (judging by the angle) they could have legitimately been filmed by another passenger.
Normal Bill doesn’t even have the sense, or the CLASS, to be subtle. He and the missus have no problem showing their asses for all the world to see.
Keep it up Bill. Show the British people what kind of King you’ll be. The monarchy will be sooooooo popular when it comes your time to wear the crown.
So transparent, juvenile & petty. And for what? No ones buying what you’re selling Wills.
Just idiots and trolls on DM. SMH
They have no identity. All they can attempt to do is define themselves through the lens of someone else. For years it was Diana (him as her son and Kate dressing up as her). Then it was the Queen. Now they want to be the “good” version of Harry and Meghan. But who are they? What do they stand for?
Beginning to wonder if there might be some type of psychological disorder with these people. SIL purported to have been lying with he*d in MIL lap, wife cosplaying the late MIL, other MIL appears to have permanent role in the marriage, Maybe it’s just one of those co-dependent type of relationships, but just weird.
Kate looks like Tiggy and dresses up like Diana. You don’t need Freud to read between the lines there.
I think it’s becoming clear that they stand for absolutely nothing. They expect praise, loyalty, and money just by virtue of their station. Without his role as heir, there’s nothing to William. Aristocratic life would’ve suited his attitude far more.
Yes! Exactly! They are so weirdly reactive and always have been. Before they were the better Charles and Diana right down to staging a candid wedding pose to recreate the actual candid wedding snap of his parents and their wedding party. Recreating clothes -Kate’s outfit for Archie’s christening is uncanny mimicry of a picture of Diana with Harry at Trooping. Now they’re also going to be the better Sussexes. It’s creepy.
They’ve confined themselves to a supporting role in their own lives.
Imagine being destined to be King and still being so jealous of him that you have to go to these extremes to shame him. What a loser!
Really it does seem like William is jealous of Harry’s life. I wonder if Meghan has ever had second thoughts about marrying into this family. I wonder if she misses her old life?
William married for convenience and to keep Ma Midds, Harry married for love. Why wouldn’t William be jealous?
Or how about taking the train?
The good news is that now Normal and Keenie will NEVER be able to take a private plane again. Once a ‘friend of the earth’, ALWAYS a ‘friend of the earth’. Maybe that’s why Georgie looks so sad. He knows the good times are over.
Haha!
Lol! You are dead right.
Lol!
The most pathetic part about this is that they could just step up their work and back thoughtful projects if they want good press, but that’s the one thing that they absolutely refuse to do.
Wow. That was a dick move Will and Kate.
Okay it’s staged but…
This just proves that they could do this anytime.
ALL OF THEM.
Yes but smart people know that booking a whole commercial flight, vetting all other passengers prior to flight and pay for extra security is going to be more costly than them refuelling a private jet they already own.
As a UK taxpayer I see this as more of a waste in terms of money. And if people want to go for the green option, any type of flying is bad, period.
Right? I hope this whole private plane media frenzy continues and pressures ALL BRF members to take budget flights, go by train etc.
IMO they booked the flights in advance, but clearly called the paps. Also, can you imagine the headlines if they flew to Scotland on a private plane – considering the current press coverage? That would have been beyond stupid…
Yes it is clearly a publicity stunt to avoid going to Aberdeen by private jet. Which would have been less expensive for me as a UK taxpayer than this silly idea to fly on a low cost flight
Obvious pr but those who hate the Sussex’s will eat it up with a spoon.
Of course. It’s obvious PR but it’s well played.
Look, here is photos and video of the most important family in the BRF flying budget!
hhaaaahahhaaaa
So obvious – they really have shown their hand here – thought they were soooo precious about their children’s privacy??
Not since the Rose rumors. We’ve seen the kids more in the last 6 months than in the rest of their lives.
Have to keep getting the Happy Family PR out there.
…and dear ole Carole.
Yup. Just waiting for the palace to announce Kate’s latest pregnancy.
She does tend to get pregnant around this time of year.
Rose who? LOL!
The Sussex’s should hire Pimp Mama Kris as their PR expert. If she can do for the Sussex’s what she did for the Kardashians in terms of mountains of “good press”…….. I kid! but seriously, what difference a PR mastermind such as Kris Jenner would have on the Sussex’s countering all this negative press.
I have no skin in this game, but I can’t see how the Cambridge’s would have won in any scenario. If they traveled in a private plane, they would have been ripped to shreds and if they travel budget they are torn apart. I’m not sure what anyone expected them to do after the sussexes received such bad press. I would have done the same. And as for the paps, nobody knows who put them on the scent. They were able to get topless pix of Kate for Christ’s sakes.
Have you ever been to Aberdeen airport? I guess not, or you wouldn’t think paparazzis are even hanging around in that part of Scotland. Photographers were on the flight….
They flew on a low cost flight on purpose. This was a stunt done to make the other 2 look very bad.
Same for the pics of H&M i guess? What airport was that? An airport where paparazzi camp out and waiting all the time?
These pictures could have been taken by anybody who was given a tip off. But for sure the paps will be hanging around Aberdeen Scotland right now, because they will all be trying to get that money shot of the royals which can make them hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds.
@Dali
If it was London, the paparazzi hang in there, yes. Aberdeen is a very small airport.
@stargeek, yes and today everyone is a Paparazzi with a smartphone. I’ve read a passenger took the picture. But who knows.
Is this the first time royals arrive in aberdeen?
It’s interesting that now we suddenly hear it could have been a passenger, well after a lot of the reaction had been negative in terms of having a pap be in attendance. For a small flight like that they could easily figure out who did it.
Drive. It’s not that long a journey. Or take the train. (And in no event did the paparazzi need to be called).
But i wonder, how was the paparazzi able to make pics of h&m on their private plane? Maybe the paps were on a hunt to get these pics from W&K to feed the narrative they are creating? I mean its not that hard to make those pics, usually they are not that interesting but in this moment of media hunt, it is. How many times did we see pics of brangelina taking planes? It’s not like W&K are never taking private planes so it would be stupid to plan this from their side, i don’t think they are this stupid honestly. See it works perfectly, everyone is outraged and making their conclusions. Fans of H&M say its so shady and mean and planed. W&K fans say: look at them they are so much better. I mean its a childish game from the media and People are falling for it. They are feeding the narrative of the falling out of the Fab Four so they don’t have to focus on andrew. Its like trump talking about buying greenland but what he really wants is to distract people from the real issues.
Those photos and video were too close to Will and Kate and their family for it to be a coincidence. The photos of Harry and Meghan were taken far away which is why they looked so grainy. Will and Kate took a play right out of Diana’s handbook. Most people on Twitter are calling this out for what it is: trolling.
@M.
?? The pics at The DM from H&M entering the plane are far from grainy.
Where is the security team, Dali? How did the paps get so close. The plant on the plane identified how normal they traveled, name dropped Kate’s mom and no else? C’mon, this was definitely staged to make the Sussex’s look bad and the Cambridge’s continue to push their “normal” family narrative.
@lowrider, good question, where was the security team of both brothers? I don’t know what is true, like all of us. It’s just my critical thinking about the British media games.
Maybe it’s just my hope that these two brothers love each other even when they have difficulties
I remember The Queen saying something like “must not let sunshine in on magic” which I took to mean if the “commoners” knew the reality of the BRF it would end the show.
She was correct. I really think it is time to put the BRF to bed. I say abolish the monarchy when Liz passes. Charles, William etc., they are still among the wealthiest people around, why keep paying their bills? And old Randy Andy is not helping the cause, at all. If or when his dirty dealing all comes out, Liz might need to send him to the moon to hide.
It is actually from a political essayist, Walter Bagehot, in the 19th century. “We must not let in daylight upon magic. We must not bring the Queen into the combat of politics, or she will cease to be reverenced by all combatants; she will become one combatant among many.”
It was twisted out of context by the press when the Royal Family documentary was released in the 70s. Philip insisted on having that made. He thought it would be a good idea for people to see members of the royal family as human. That backfired quickly. We didn’t see behind the scenes family footage again until a few years ago.
Thanks nota, I was getting ready to give Bagehot his due credit.
BTB, we really are history nerds aren’t we?
LOL how pathetic. And yet some people will still claim that the Cambridges played no part in the smear campaign.
So obviously PR. Ridiculous. William doesn’t care one bit about Harry and his family. Dick moves are dick moves.
Will has no use for Harry. He was his crutch till Harry married.
Look forward to seeing the Cambridge kids a lot more. Will needs a new crutch.
Those people are petty and ridiculous. You’d think someone who looks like a giant walking thumb would have a little more empathy for people.
A budget flight how rich of them. I wonder if Katie Keen wore budget knickers in case if a budget flashing at Aberdeen airport.
I cracked up reading this too because the Cambridges are so transparent. This your best comeback Jason?
Charles is rolling his eyes, as he gets on his private flight, telling himself the wrong son will be king.
IMO Charles doesn’t favour Harry as he hasn’t intervened in the campaign against H&M so far AT ALL.
To use some of y’all’s favorite word…the OPTICS on this, geez. As some have said above, this isn’t a place the paparazzi hang out, so this was absolutely staged. Also where are all of you who say you like both brothers/wives or that you don’t care about either but only post negatively on Sussex stories? I’m waiting…
@Green Day, Since you asked have some negative on all the Former Fab Four:
The Cambridges: Both Bill & Cathy are lazy IMPO. Bill Cambridge is the lazier of the two and holds Cathy back from doing anything productive so he will not have to expend any extra effort. Bill Cambridge is a BOB (Big Old Baby) and a man child which is why he gets along so well with Ma Middleton. Neither Bill nor Cathy really want to be an HRH. What they really want is to be a rich aristocrat like the Duke of Westminster, Duke of Beaufort, Marquess of Cholmondeley or Marquess of Bute. Bill does not want to be the hard working PoW that his father is.
The Sussexes: I do not think either Meghan or Harry think the petty things (which the tabloids love pick-up on) all the way through. IMHO, The NYC baby shower bad optics do to austerity, economic uncertainty and Brexit in the UK. There is no reason that if your are wearing designer couture that you clothes should not be perfectly tailored. Writing slogans on bananas is just a bad idea all around. Harry always looks like a scruff who just rolled out of bed unless in uniform. Harry has a desire for a degree of privacy that no full time working HRH will ever have. Megs & Harry seem to prefer celebs to the old old landed aristocracy of the UK. Harry is also a BOB (Big Old Baby) and man-child but he is not as bad as his brother.
@Bay agree with all your posts, except H&M preferring celebs to the old old landed aristocracy, of course they do as the good ole aristocracy is basically stomach-churning . Pretty sure some celebs are down to earth compared to some of those vile dinosaurs.
LOL…your response just kinda proves my point.
@GreenDesert whom are you referring to? As I dislike them all and never post on their threads but William and Kate’s charade hit a nerve today (plus I am off and at home this week).
Well played Will and Kate. Even Carole was named dropped in this OBVIOUS PR STUNT.
Your move Harry and Meghan.
William is a lazy, opportunistic, back-stabbing -sshole. That’s all I’ve got.
A petty jealous douche who will one day need the brother he is trying to destroy.
I am a die hard Megan and Harry fan but I do not think this post about the Cambridges is fair. How is Celebitchy certain about this narrative? Were the writers a fly on the wall when Will and Kate were making travelling plans? How do you know they have not traveled like this before? And besides,wont it look dumb on their part if they decide to fly on a private jet after all this backlash? No point gearing people to despise people they absolutely know nothing about
Agree!
If you think a royal would travel on a low cost flight with peasants like Joe public, you are naive at best and living on a cloud at worst.
And as a UK taxpayer, I like accountability but this stunt ‘just for the optics’ has costed me more than them travelling by private jet.
Frankly, you sound very confused. UK citizens should make up their mind about the Royal Family. Either you want them or you don’t. Otherwise stop bitching about how much expenses they are incurring. This has been going on for years but suddenly now Megan is on the scene, it is a different story now.
I agree Rachel. Narrative veering into lurid and feverish fan fiction territory.
WOW!!! I really didn’t want to believe that the RF (especially the Cambridges) would throw Harry/Meghan under the bus for their own gain. But here it is, live and in color. There is nothing anyone can say other than this was intentional by the Cambridges. Their goal was to paint the Sussex’s in a negative light and to pander to the media. I’m conflicted because I really loved the RF. Now, I’m just disappointed. Sad for Meghan that she married into such a family. Sad for Meghan because for months her family was portrayed as the dysfunctional family (which is true) but all this time Harry’s family is not only dysfunctional, but mean spirited and calculating. All this time I was in the group calling out the media when really the media was given the go-ahead by the RF! What a bunch of ARSES! My only hope is that Harry and Meghan keep loving each other in that special way that is clear to the observer. That they shield Archie from his horrific family because I now belive they would use Archie to protect George. I’m so sad and disappointed today. I’m left without words. TQ should be ashamed. Hopefully, Meghan can find comfort in knowing that there are some who belive in her and support what she is trying to accomplish. I hope she can stay the course.
Karma….mark my word this will comeback on the Cambridges. They will have to fly low-budget moving forward. Harry/Meghan keep flying private and laugh at the ridiculous Cambridges flying budget!
Lucky you. I’ve been sad and enraged seeing my newsfeed covered with devastating photos from the tragedy in the Amazonas.
What a cheap move!
Of course this was a staged and poorly veiled dig at Harry and Meghan. Just like Meghan saying putting herself on the cover would be “boastful” was a passive dig at Kate.
I like Meghan and Harry better than the rest of the RBF, and I understand why they want to defend themselves against their wasps nest of a family, but all of them can dish it out publicly.
I think it is clear that the reason the RFB flies private, renovates huge homes, buys multiple, outrageously expensive clothes, hires multiple nannies, and frankly does very little work is not because they need to, but because they can. And they have been getting away with it for a long time.
I hope Andrew gets exposed for all his horrible deeds.
And I hope the rest of them continue to get called out – equally – until they change or the monarchy dissolves.
The boastful comment wasn’t a passive dig at Kate, but probably trying to shield herself from being called an attention seeking narcissist by her detractors (though she was called that and worse things anyway), especially since the topic of the magazine were women who represented forces of change, if she did appear on the cover for this issue it would had indeed been boastful.
Poor Kate. Got to protect her right from boastful comments.
As heirs to the throne, I thought that William and George were supposed to fly separately. Or am I wrong? Can someone here clarify this?
I am not a royalist, quite the opposite… but common sense would suggest that Charles and William never travels together. I doubt it involves George until he comes of age.
They are supposed to, at least historically. She waived it years ago for Charles and Diana to take William with them on the same plane to Australia. She may have given up on the idea entirely, or waived it permanently for W&K, and if a tragedy happens, it happens.
You’d think she’d know better, having lost a 30-year-old cousin to a plane crash in 1972. Many people have blinders on when it comes to modern airline safety and lack thereof.
I would not fault the Cambridges if they planned to fly private and then changed their plans to fly commercial because of the furor over the Sussexes private plane trips. I don’t see this as them getting in a dig at the Sussexes, rather them smartly avoiding the possibility that they would get photographed and pictures of them exiting a private plane get splashed across the front pages which would be bad optics.
The Cambridges flew from Norfok to Aberdeen, it seems like the airlines that fly non-stop between the two cities are regional carriers that charge budget rates.
I am on the fence regarding if the Cambridge PR team contacted the media or if the footage is from an opportunistic employee or passenger.
Jason Knauf no longer handles communications / PR for the Cambridges. Christian Jones oversees communications and I suspect that he is behind some of the improvements that we have seen in recent months.
It’s the fact that they had a reporter there to record and publish it, not that they flew commercial.
I highly doubt it was an employee because they would get fired over this. As for a passenger, if not a paparazzi, then that person could easily be identified by William’s Security team since a plane holding up to 44 people that has been vetted isn’t very large at all.
He is such a petty b*tch.
Thank you. MTE.
The other sad part of this is William is such a weakling in all this. The Cambridges just proved they are owned by the press. They fear it because they think they will lose their exalted positions if they don’t have the media’s favor. Bill and Kate made deals with the press to offer the kids for photo ops.
The Cambridges have a long history of flying both private and commercial flights. This isn’t news. When William preaches do as I say not as I do (ie children) he gets criticism. When Harry says every little thing we do affects our carbon footprint and then takes four – six private flights in recent weeks he gets criticism. As they should. Royalty are public servants first and foremost.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with criticizing them for taking private jets (which is legitimate criticism), but the way Harry and Meghan are criticized is vile, the venom that is thrown at them, the rants and opinion pieces being put out there daily is straight up bullying and done to incite hatred towards them. It’s vicious.
The future king and queen of laziness anti blackness will regret throwing Harry and his family under the boat.
Charles tried it and it backfired.
So they flew heirs to the throne #2 thru #5 on a MegaBus of the skies. And, they proved what? Just proves stupidity is incurable.
This made me LOL!
Let’s be clear here.
Any pap photos of the Cambridge kids in the British tabloids are authorized by Will and Kate. Will and Kate allowed these photos to be published knowing they were going to get good press at the expense of the Sussexes. The story could have gone forward without these pictures -that’s what happened with that Christmas story about Kate shopping in a cheap shop with the kids -But the Cambridges leaned all the way in with this one.
My feeling is that William is poking at Harry to see if he’ll fight back. If Harry or Meghan do fight back, William will use that against them with the family to ostracize them and justify any dirty trick or behavior. William’s looking for an excuse to have an all out fight with Meghan and Harry because he feels like his authority and importance is being challenged now that Harry is going off in his own direction.
Meghan probably has a lot of practice with this kind of behavior because of her own family.
Exactly this. No photos of William’s kids get printed in UK papers, much less a video, unless KP approves. He was able to get a media blackout on the Rose story by threatening human rights so he could easily have stopped the video from being published. The DM would have checked with KP before they published it, which means they were fine with this.
1. We’ll probably never see them board another flight ever again
2. This was an obvious, petty dig at the Sussex’s. Its quite pathetic tbh. Anyone thinking otherwise is lying to themselves.
3. I’ve notice that they’re slowly giving more and more access to their kids that they’ve been notoriously (and rightfully) protective of and I hope they know what they’re doing with the press cause it’ll be hard to walk that back in the future. They’re dealing with Devil here and I hope they know what they’re doing.
@Lexa “though I could also see an airport employee trying to cash in or a set up. ”
It’s very likely that it’s what happened.
It’s a very short video probably taken from the plane with a phone (I don’t get why people are sure this was taken by a professional photographer),and I’m not excluding the possibility that it was arranged by the Daily mail itself. They know that the Cambridges would have flown to Scotland this week (and commercial). I’m sure they have the right contacts to get an easy “story” like this.
As someone said above,in previous years they had no reason to stalk them on commercial flights. Didn’t they fly with the same company last year too? This year the timing is perfect.
Like other posters,I’m also confused by the comments about paparazzi being called to allow them on the tarmac.. Did M&H stage their pics? And wasn’t Andrew papped last week at the same airport? I don’t think he called them,and actually the presence of paparazzi at that airport right now would make perfectly sense.
Kate and William have been famously photographed with baby George flying to Mustique with British Airways. Those pics don’t look professional pap pics to me,but if they were ,I doubt they asked the paps to be on the tarmac..
About the video being approved because of the kids,I’m not sure. I think now they have a gentlemen agreement with the press to leave their kids alone (and them with the kids) on their private time. But once they bring them in public settings,I doubt they can’t do anything.
They may throw a tantrum after that,but I absolutely don’t think Sun and Daily Mail ask for permission if they have pics and videos at the airport. In fact,they have been published before. RPOs asking people not to take pics with phones is another matter.
As I previously stated, Will and Kate are very (and again rightfully) rightfully protective of their kids. Pap pics or not, there’s no way these pics were published without their consent. Even if they didn’t set up the photo op, they had no problem letting the story run. Again, I hope they know what they’re doing in regards to the press, cause if given an inch, they’ll go for a mile.
Maybe but I doubt it.
All I want to know why is Carole seems to be around them a lot more this time. Didnt they just spend 2 weeks together and then some? or is she trying to get Kate her 4th child? William, you are not making it easy, lols…
Methinks rumors of Prince William having an affair is true and still going.
It’s nauseatingly obvious what they are doing, in the wake of the evisceration H&M got. Sad. The heir to the throne should be OK to fly private. Of course it’s not my national budget.
The Cambridges are definitely shading Meg/Harry with public photo. See everybody how good we are to the environment and saving money. They are definitely working with the tabloids and nobody can make me believe otherwise.
The Sussexes want us to be kind, but there is nothing kind about many of the comments here. They are vicious.
You can’t blame the kindness proponents Sussexes for the comments on a gossip site anymore than you can blame anti bullying Cambridges for the comments on Kensington Palace’s Instagram- some of which are made by people claiming to be Cambridges fans and have been really racist against Meghan
Agree.
Don’t know how Cambridges usually get to Scotland but with private jet gate anybody would avoid those so don’t blame them for that.
Lots of royal commentators/general press are calling this a “burn” against Harry&Meghan, a PR move. There was a Princes at war documentary in the UK last week so this plays into that narrative. The press will be only winners if there is a new generation War of the Roses.
I’m not sure why people don’t get that optics don’t matter with Meghan. The royal reporting press tends to be right wing and like somebody said above- they leant unto racist, anti immigrant, xenophobic coverage pre Brexit and US born, mixed race, apparently left leaning immigrant Meghan is the new highly profitable target. They have a fundamental issue with Meghan’s presence in the royal family so no matter what she does that’s not changing. Someone was saying on a post the other day she should be more low profile. She’s done maybe only 6 public appearances since March but has had daily negative stories.
The standard always shifts with her so it’s impossible to please. When she was out&about press said she needs to know she’s not star of the show. When she didn’t do Lindo wing& they didn’t permit pap strolls for arrivals at christening, she was too private and breaking royal tradition. On Archie’s birth&christening I’m sure Harry is super entitled but apart from not disclosing godparents they’ve not asked for more privacy than any senior royal. I’ve read pics of Charles weren’t released until months after guys birth and the Queen herself rejected calls for her kids to be seen more in the 50s saying she wanted them to have a normal upbringing as possible.
When Harry & Meghan first married and it was summer break she was being called lazy and not doing her duties(not knowing she was working on the cookbook project). When she was pregnant& still doing tours etc she was then called too hard working and making normal mum to bes look bad. This week Emily Andrews claimed that her can do spirit and work ethic was upsetting the royal household!
In relation to the jet storm- a lot of senior royals champion environment and conservation and yet use helicopters, private planes, holiday on super yachts and have never faced this level of criticism. The Daily Mail& the Spectator and some royal commentators are treating their private jet to Nice story as the same as Epstein/Andrew as potential ruination of the monarchy.
Some commentators also were claiming that royals shouldn’t accept gifts, holidays, use of someone’s jet and that’s issue with the Elton trip. Where are they when Cambridges used Duke of Westminster plane, when Charles&Camilla holiday on Greek tycoons super yachts and Rothschild’s villas, when Queen, Camilla and Kate etc are rocking mega jewels from the Saudis etc? These are just few examples of double standards that apply to Meghan.
Meghan seems to be held to impossible standards and expected to totally fix the issues she cares about eg comment on this site the other day that she could have given money to Grenfell victims instead of cookbook and money used on royals could be used for better housing etc. Never mind that conditions that led to Grenfell have been years in the making because of government decisions not to build more social housing, to cut local authority budgets and relying on private home builders who tend to use cheaper materials. Never mind that austerity (note it started in 2010 and the public gave Conservatives bigger majority in 2015 even after experiencing it for 5 years) is part of Tory ideology that seeks to avoid large public spending and if monarchy is gone, no guarantee that funds would be diverted to social welfare programs and public housing if that’s not within the ideology of the government of the day.
I do think the economic and political climate we are in doesn’t help but ultimately with all the double standards the press apply and with this jet story being treated as it has been, you have to conclude that people just resent her doing or having things that white
royals do or have with little or no complaint. She’s in the smallest property of a senior royal but that is still begrudged. So doubt eg wearing Marks and Spencers every day, holidaying only in the UK and travelling by train everywhere she goes will ever appease those who just resent the space she occupies.
Yes to everything you wrote! I hope, Meghan does not break. What can we do, to help her?
YES YES YES to all of this!
Meant to say new War of the Wales above.
On the photos someone on Sky News said last night it was William briefing against his brother. Other commentators have suggested this was Kate’s payback for Meghan’s 2 kids comments. Just wrong seeing as Meghan isn’t even the one who said anything about 2 kids but as we know people like a cat fight and press are going to lap up this up and dig into feud stuff again. Sigh
However, I don’t think idea of William trolling his brother has landed well so there’s been some clarification. Rebecca English has come out on twitter and said they weren’t staged&Emily Andrews said member of public took them and William was upset kids were pictured.
@eyefalia saw this article on Twitter about what people may want to consider to stop the press trolling of Meghan. It will always be there for papers like the Fail but maybe not as widely if it stops being profitable https://www.celebritykind.com/kindness/sir-elton-meghan-harry/
Thank you very much! I fear, the points stated in this article are not enough. Whitney Phillips who studied trolls and smear campaigns said that when the trolls get the press to be on their side, they have won. I wonder if it is possible lets say if a group of Meghan fans got together and would sue the tabloids for character assassination? Sue the Daily Mail for 20 Mio. Pounds.
All I can say is that if my brother and SIL were being dragged in the press, I would do everything in my power to shut it down.
What’s the threat? Harry is like, 5th in line now. William and Kate “won.” (Not sure if H & M want that prize, anyhow.)
Norwich to Aberdeen is only a 1 hour 15 minute flight, they had to endure.