Intro: Minutes 0 to 4:15
We intended on taking the entire month of January off from the podcast but due to Sussexit we’ve changed our plans. We’ll have two episodes in January and two in February instead. I’m moving in February and will need a little time off for that and the Oscars. We will have another podcast for you next week and are planning on coming back on February 3rd and February 24th. Please check out our revised calendar. Note that this episode was released on Sunday due to the Critics Choice Awards coming out that night. We’ll also release on Sunday next week but should return to our regular Monday morning release time for our two episodes in February. My gym has been really crowded due to the new people at the beginning of the year. Both Chandra and I try to avoid the most crowded times at the gym and store. You can listen below! We’re also on YouTube and major platforms, as linked below.

Sussexit intro: Minutes 4:15 to 5:20
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan announced in the afternoon US time last Wednesday that they’re stepping down as senior royals. We think the timing was designed to give preference to the US outlets as it was already evening in the UK and the British press had to play catch up. At the same time, they launched their new website SussexRoyal.com, with a detailed outline of their plans. We talk more about that a little later.

Harry and Meghan’s timing: Minutes 5:20 to 8:00
The Sussexes took six weeks off over the holidays and we didn’t know where they were at first but then heard they were in Canada. Chandra believes the stories that William exposed their location because his go-to reporter, Rebecca English, broke the news. We didn’t see them but did get a new photo of Archie and Harry which they released in an end of year video. They were seen by photographers for the first time in six weeks outside Canada house in London on January 7th, the day before their announcement. Meghan and Harry looked so happy and united, and Meghan was glowing! That was the look of a woman who was winning. Chandra said that this was their going away photoshoot and that they knew everyone would use them with the news stories which were about to break. I bring up the last photos of Katie Holmes with Tom Cruise looking triumphant right before she divorced him when she had seemed really depressed right before that. Chandra remembers how often Katie was photographed alone prior to that and how over the marriage Nicole Kidman looked in her final months with Tom. I’ve included all those photos below, I had fun looking them up! I was wrong about the timeline on the Katie Holmes photos though. She looked amazing at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in February and filed for divorce in June. It’s likely her plan was underway at that time though.

Meghan is a superb planner: Minutes 8:00 to 11:00
Chandra explains what a next-level planner and game theorist Meghan is, especially in light of how expertly she mapped out that letter to her father, knowing he would sell it to the media and she could eventually sue. She used a similar strategy here. It’s possible that Harry and Meghan weren’t ready to make the announcement but that they did it knowing that it was about to leak. They had it all set up expertly. We heard that the Queen was caught off guard and William was “incandescent with rage,” but then additional stories revealed that Harry and Meghan were trying to work out the details with the royal family behind the scenes and were given the runaround. By making their plans public, the Sussexes have outplayed the Queen, who will look awful if she takes away their royal titles, especially since her Prince Andrew retains his.

The “Royal Rota” and the press: Minutes 11:00 to 15:30
We didn’t know that the Royal Rota was an official thing and just assumed that all outlets in the press corps have equal access, but the Sussexes lay this out on their new website. It’s official that certain publications get first access to the royals. These are the same outlets which have been trashing Meghan and Harry. By exposing them, they’re implying that the leaks and smears are coming from royal sources. Chandra thinks it’s quite obvious payback. The Queen and senior royals are scrambling to come up with a solution now that all of this is public.

The Sussexes’ finances: Minutes 15:30 to 23
The financial section of SussexRoyal is confusing. They said they get 95% of their funding from The Duchy of Cornwall or Prince Charles and 5% of their funding from the Sovereign Grant, or The Queen. They will be giving up the Sovereign Grant and Chandra explains that whether they’ll keep their funding from Charles depends on a few factors which are yet to be determined. It likely won’t matter if they’re senior royals, but it will be matter if they’re still designated working royals, if they get to keep their HRH designation and whether they keep their titles. They have so many options to make money, like Netflix and book deals. They have a lot of support here in the US. Chandra mentions the “good sis Meghan” tweets and I read tweets by Elizabeth Kidd and Eve Ettinger.

Comments of the Week: Minutes 23 to 23
My comments of the week were from smcollins and My3cents on the post with Gwyneth Paltrow’s awful dress at the Golden Globes. Chandra’s comment of the week was from Zapp Brannigan on the post about Kensington Palace’s happy birthday message to Kate.

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photos credit: WENN and via social media