This is two weekends in a row, where the British tabloids go absolutely insane with their anti-Meghan coverage. Of course, the more interesting story – beyond whatever unhinged psychodrama is coming out of the Daily Mail or The Sun – is who is behind all of these leaks and negative stories. I’ve said before that I don’t think it’s just one person – say, Prince Charles or Prince William – but it’s a combination of leaks from different people with different agendas, but the result is the same: a coordinated smear campaign against the Duchess of Sussex, conducted by many people within the royal family, or working for the royal family. So, here are the latest smears:
Meghan wanted St. George’s Chapel to smell better. This is supposed to be evidence of her “diva,bridezilla” qualities, that she though the chapel smelled a bit musty, so she requested some air fresheners to be deployed ahead of the wedding. The Daily Mail says Buckingham Palace got all pissy about it and “Meghan wanted staff to go around with these atomisers, like spritzer guns, and spray the chapel with scent before anyone arrived. Royal Household staff stepped in and told her office politely, but firmly, that this was the Queen’s Chapel and it simply wasn’t appropriate. I don’t believe they said no because they thought it could affect the chapel in any way. It was simply the principle of the thing. This is a place that has held royal weddings, funerals and even contains the Royal Vault. I don’t believe a request of that nature had been made before.” Except ahead of William and Kate’s wedding at Westminster Abbey, Kate had Jo Malone candles burned so that there would be a citrus smell. But sure, Meghan is a crazy bridezilla diva. Also: reportedly, Meghan and Harry did the same thing as Kate, they reportedly burned Diptyque scented candles at the wedding.
Meghan made another white woman cry. The woman in question is Melissa Toubati, the same personal assistant to Meghan who made a big deal about “quitting” just six months after the wedding. Apparently, Melissa quit because “Her job was highly pressurised and in the end it became too much. She put up with quite a lot. Meghan put a lot of demands on her and it ended up with her in tears.” For the love of God. The British tabloids aren’t going to quit until Meghan is blamed for all of the white tears in Britain.
Kate “slapped down” Meghan just before the wedding. According to The Sun, the lead-up to Meghan and Harry’s wedding was like 10 episodes of Dynasty rolled into one week. Not only did mean, angry, BLACK diva Meghan make poor white Kate cry, Meghan also “berated” a member of Kate’s staff ahead of the wedding. The Sun claims that they spoke to an “impeccable royal source”who said that Meghan and Kate “fell out” because Meghan “b******ed Kate’s staff” and Kate told Meg: “That’s unacceptable, they’re my staff and I speak to them.” While I believe this is utter bulls–t, I also think it’s telling that this is the fictitious story they’re going with because… the whole point of Harry and William sharing an office was that all of their staff worked for all of them. No wonder Meghan and Harry want a separate office – Meghan can’t ask for anything from the Kensington Palace staff without them leaking that she’s an “opinionated diva” who needed to be “slapped down” by a white woman.
Interestingly enough, the palace officially denied the story about Kate “slapping down” Meghan. A palace spokesperson said “this never happened.” They who was “impeccable royal source”? Many of you have tweeted @ me about the timing of all of this – after Meghan announced her pregnancy, after the wildly successful South Pacific Tour, in which “Meg-Mania” was in full effect. And after Meghan’s first big project launch, the cookbook for the Hubb Community Kitchen. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to see that there are a handful of people in the royal family who really, really do not appreciate what Meghan has done already.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and WENN.
So… you’re trying to pretend that burning candles is the same as spraying? But then pointing out that Kate and William wanted candles burned… and then Harry and Meghan ended up doing that… which is different.
In trying to dump all over other people you’re not making sense.
The leaks are coming from the staffer who quit. If they weren’t, why would they be coming out now, after the staffer quit?
What is the extraordinary difference between spraying some scent and burning scented candles?
As someone with chemical sensitivity, air fresheners are horrific and can give me migraine, while I can actually tolerate scented candles for short durations. That being said, I doubt this was some kind of breach of protocol as the media is making it out to be. It was likely one of numerous venue related requests by the couple, normal when planning a wedding, and that one was turned down. Not a big deal.
She wanted scent though instead of an air freshener. I don’t think she wanted to spray Glade around Windsor Chapel and if she does like Glade, then that is the real scandal because I agree that all of that stuff smells terrible. What she wanted was the same perfumed smell that would be created by a scented candle.
Lol white tears. I love how in all this kate either cried or took meghan on. guess kate is going to be the great white savior of the royal family now. 😂😂
At this point the stories are laughable. Meghan has never had a honeymoon period with the dailymail or sun. They attacked her from the get go. Now its amusing how much they are putting out every day. The only people excited about this are the crazies on Twitter, daily mails fanbase of trump lovers and of course the lovely ladies at the royaldish.
You do you meghan. Keep you head up, enjoy you husband and baby on the way. I think moving is going to be that thing for them.
I’m surprised no one has guessed that it was the former personal assistant who started this current media sh*ts show.
Who else could speak with credibility about what Meghan does at 5 am?
Who else would have been one of the few people allowed in the actual fitting room for the child attendants?
Who else would be close enough and present enough to gauge how Meghan is getting on with the royals and the courtiers behind closed doors?
Who else is a member of a profession notorious for feeding the media legit or legit sounding stories a out their employers? Underpaid and overworked personal assistants.
The PA was almost certainly someone who didn’t have the skills or competency required to work for a skilled and competent Meghan, was bitter about being asked to step up or step out and wanted to get her revenge in the worst way possible. The sad part is this miserable woman knew the racist misogynist media would eat it up and run with it. Hang in there Meghan!
I agree with Claire Voyant (love the screen name)—it all goes back to the *disgruntled* PA. I imagine she won’t have to seek another job for a long damn time now, if ever, after the gigantic bundle of cash she has no doubt made for her treachery.
And I’ll go one further: Knowing the public interest in Meghan, I’ll bet there WAS no real harshness from Meghan. My money says this was simply the PA’s financial planning at work, all along: she simply quit after she had accrued six months’ worth of petty stories she could amplify and sell, and then live off for a long time to come.
To me no big difference between scented candles or air freshener. I have a lot of environmental allergies plus asthma so it doesn’t matter how “natural”, “organic” or nice it might smell. To be honest, the more “natural” the worse it’ll be for me as it’s trees/grass/flowers I am allergic to.
I am floored by the stories. Someone pointed out a few days ago that Robbie Wiliams was this PA’s former employer & that RW’s daughter was in Eugenie’s bridal party. Someone is so out to get Meghan, on CDAN today OMG….someone brought up that Doria may have a same sex friend! (eye roll & clutches pearls)
What the hell is the difference between air fresheners and scented candles? Jesus.
I guess it would be that liquid chemical perfume sprays could damage the medieval wood inside the chapel.
I would say air fresheners imply there is an unpleasant smell that needs masking. I associate them with toilets.
Scented candles are there to add to rather than disguise a smell.
Air freshener isn’t something I use. It’s chemically and a bit tacky. But I love scented candles.
If someone asked to spray air freshener in my house I’d be offended. If they asked if we could light a candle with a particular fragrance they liked, I’d be happy to.
That’s just me.
Lumbina- who’s to say she wanted a chemical air freshener? I make my own using essential oils. And, Meghan really doesn’t seem the type to be using plug-ins or artificial whatever. She seems more the type to use an essential oil diffuser with the wooden sticks (weren’t there even pictures of that in her home from her Tig photos?). Those would be even less damaging than candles since they could just be placed in hidden locations and aren’t sprayed or burned. I really hate how people are just taking all these stories at face value.
People are being too literal about the fresheners. Meghan just wanted a scent regardless if it was fresheners or candles. The type of freshener isn’t the point. It’s funny how all of these stories a coming out now when at the time of the wedding everything was fine. Also these “crimes” seem so insignificant yet the media is trying to make it a scandal. And most of the incidences were previously done with other members of the family.
As someone said above, if Meghan likes Glade, that’s the real scandal here, but I doubt a former lifestyle blogger was suggesting a discount store solution to a musty smell.
In my opinion, its not whether candles are the same as spraying air freshener. It’s that the tone is – “the smell in the chapel is good enough for the queen, it should be good enough for the upstart American diva actress.”
That’s why the fact that Kate ALSO had an issue with the smell in Westminster Abbey and ALSO tried to mitigate that smell is important. This isn’t a Meghan thing. This is a “these places are old and smell musty and what can we do about that.”
If the freshener itself was the issue, the response should have been “we are not comfortable with that, before her wedding the Duchess of Cambridge used candles and that worked well, do you want to try that?”
And for the record this is another story that I don’t really believe happened, or if it happened it makes the Queen’s staff look bad, not Meghan.
It probably was. The story is talking about how the staff allegedly felt about Meghan’s request. It’s not meant to read as a word for word account. Otherwise my guess would be that Meghan leaked that story to show how rudely she is being treated.
At both weddings IIRC there were candles burning at the alter – its a pretty safe bet to say that these are the candles that are being talked about in Candlegate. If there is going to be candles burning at the alter then why shouldn’t they be nice scented ones chosen by the bride. Its a mountain of out nothing.
and don’t forget about the mini forest inside of Westminster Abbey.
I cannot believe we’re zeroing in on the air freshener thing – the goofiest, most useless rumor to come out of the media crapstorm yet.
There is a possible pedo in their midst but yeah maybe using air freshener or candles is monstrous. 😐
Perhaps because it is one of the few stories that rings true? In that I mean, it is possible she did request someone to spritz prior to guests arriving. What is being MADE of a fairly benign request is a different matter.
It could have been as simple as no spray, how about candles? Candles? Yea, that would be awesome, let’s do candles.
But that doesn’t generate clicks.
They have all been fairly absent the last couple of weeks so the media is developing anecdotes as full fledged scandal for clicks IMO.
More than half of these leaks have nothing to do with Melissa but everything to do with Will and Kate. If Meghan made her cry, why wasn’t this mentioned before when she supposedly quit because of her? Why AFTER we heard she supposedly made Kate cry at a bridesmaid dress fitting.
Also, this woman is claimed to be working for Meghan but we’ve never seen or heard of her before. Amy is Meghan’s PA and Samantha has been her PS. We’ve seen both of them and they’re both still around.
It’s easy to pin it on someone never confirmed to work for Meghan and who shut down her social media page not even two days ago. That tells me she clearly ain’t behind the leaks but is getting dragged into it. Someone dropped her name and I bet it wasn’t because she was already in cahoots with the media. I’ll also bet her departure had nothing to do with Meghan.
The queen would never directly handle employment issues for her own staff much less someone from KP. Completely false.
Oh what fan fiction, Jules. Did you read those on tumblr?
It’s the former PA (and maybe she “left” for doing something wrong), or maybe just maybe the Daily Mail is outright making things up since these articles seem to originate with them. Enty on the CDAN site blindly follows whatever the DM says. By the way, the commenters on these sites are really questioning now the validity of the stories.
Im sorry but wanting it to be atmospheric (and not stink) is entirely fair and in line with a nice event. The last thing Id want either, is to have a great wedding but then people think back on it, “yeah, that funky smell tho”
All of the people saying spray freshner gives them migraines but candles don’t are full of it. Both are equally bad for you. Scented candles use voc’s (Volatile organic compounds) to spread their scent and they are just as unhealthy as sprays. It annoys me that people think they’re benign…not too mention anytime anything burns you can safely bet it’s bad for your lungs.
Pinetree I just saw your post & 100% agree. I commented similarly further up before I saw your post.
Nanny Maria was the staff in question.
From a British commenter:
1. It’s a centuries old castle filled with priceless art and artefacts and belongs to the National cultural heritage. Protecting it will be the primary concern over anyone else’s issues. Also we’ve been there – the chapel doesn’t smell musty in any way. The architecture is very well designed for ventilation, which is important to protect all the priceless items within. America doesn’t have much in the way of priceless centuries old architecture and cultural objects so we understand the lack of understanding.
2. The recent spate of articles has nothing to do with racism. This is a well known method of The Firm to bring wayward behaving members of the Royal firm to heel. They did the same thing to Kate Middleton when Pippa was painting the town red with dubious antics all over Europe – they couldn’t control Pippa but they could certainly bear pressure onto Kate
3. The Firm is clearly emphasising the delineation of hierarchy. Like it or not, there is only ONE priority and that is the line of succession. Will and Kate are the PRIORITY of the firm. Someone is being forcefully reminded to toe the line – again it has nothing to do with racism. It has everything to do with recognising where you stand in the line of succession, which for Harry and Meghan is irrelevance. The York Princesses have felt this bitter reminder and no one more bitter about irrelevance than Andrew himself. So no, it has nothing to do with racism but everything to do with how The Firm operates.
3. Lastly, the Firm has operated this way for hundreds of years. They have an astonishing amount of practice and no one is going to win against them – certainly not a spare that they’ve now deemed to be retired to irrelevancy given the crop of heirs to the throne. That is the bitter reality of that gilded cage.
Yeah, keep toting that line about not having to do with racism….
As for Harry & Meghan being irrelevant? Dream on.
Well said
Many of us in Blighty know palace courtiers are knee deep in leaking stories to certain papers esp Times and Telegraph.
And yes even the Sun! ( The Mail is still largely clickbait utter tosh )
Fergie made it clear in her autobiography, how she stopped being ” a breath of fresh air” and became a wind knocking them the wrong way and the courtiers came at her from all angles.
She called them ‘the little grey men’.
They happily fed the press stories about her, which poisoned family relations and finished her off.
(No, some of her own actions didn’t help, but were a smaller part of the story)
Most ignored/shrugged off what she had to say. History is repeating itself.
PLEASE, can someone help me with this? In the phrase – “b******ed Kate’s staff” – what is the b-word? I thought of bitched but then shouldn’t there be “at” after bitched, or maybe “out”. So, I’m guessing it’s something else, but what?
Bollocked
I was struggling with this too. Couldn’t come up with one American swear word that fit “b*****ed”.
Is bollocked a bad word in England?
@Bella DuPont – thank you so much! I could have thought about this from now until the end of time and never ever would have thought of “bollocked”. I think I’ll try to work bollocked into my future conversations now.
Honestly? At this point I can’t take seriously anybody that believes ANY of these stories.
Really.
Smells like the Meddling Middletons.
Notice the only one coming out of this smelling like roses is Kate…hmm…
Yes and oddly there has been at least 2 positive stories about the Mids. The VF one about her finally giving the Cambridge’s some space, allegedly. The other being that she did an exclusive interview with a rag about her as a successful business women and giving behind the scenes access to Party Pieces.
I think those ‘grey men’ pushing these stories are the ambridges, the. Ids and Andrew ( revenge for what he perceives was them stealing attention away from Eugenies wedding). Chuck am not sure, he clearly loves Meghan that is obvs to anyone with eyes but he may have chucked a few comments in aimed at William, who for that particular story looked bad.
I’m with you on the three parties behind this concerted campaign aggressively smearing Meghan and promoting the Mids .
It isn’t plausible that the ‘little gray men’ would feel as free to come up with their own smear campaigns as they were in the days of Diana and Fergie, given the messes that followe
I think Charles’ love for Meghan is somewhat PR. I don’t think he secretly hates her or anything. I just think it’s his biographer who started the avalanche. Charles is weird. I genuinely think he loves both his sons, but I also think he sees business as business. He’ll say/do whatever he thinks will get him the best press. I wouldn’t take Charles at face value about anything other than climate change.
Honestly, to me, sounds like palace insiders to me. Sad little men who don’t like anyone who breaks the mold.
The purfume story doesn’t do anything for Cambridge’s. The what Meghan wants Meghan gets comes from Charles. She’s a go-getter but as wife of 6th in line, Im sure there’s a pack of grey men ready to “put her in place” like they did Fergie. Who used to be called the breath of fresh air, until they made her their fallguy. Instead of making her an asset, it’s mindboggling.
All the hardwork of The Duke Duchess Sussex is GREAT for the BRF – HM – POW The Firm.
They may not ‘know’ how to deal with the Spare potential king as the most popular compared to a lazy whiny middleton heir…..and all the work he and his Duchess is set to achieve. Two tours in the space of weeks!
Please please whiny middleton remove yourself from the Line, this wont end well.
The Sussexes are great for the BRF, not so great for the Mids. As they say, ask ‘Cui bono?’
Who benefits if Meghan is torn down and thrifty, regal, blameless, staff-and-tradition-respecting Kate is promoted?
Gee, we’ll need to ponder that one …
I’ve been meaning to say this. Just in general, I really don’t have a problem with the statement Harry supposedly made about what Megan wants. The statement is off-putting simply on its face but when in context I’m sure it make sense. I know it was mentioned re: the tiara blow-up but it just sounds to me if Harry had to step in with recalcitrant staff. This happens in the workplace all of the time when junior (and sometime senior) staff members resent reporting to someone they see as an undeserving upstart. The person who has the power and the authority always has to step in and out folks in check.
@Royal Sparkle, give it up already. Harry is NOT going to become king, barring some great tragedy to the rest of the royal family.
Again, either Charles or William could up and quit. They are not forced to be there for life, nor does their life have to end for them to leave the throne and all it entails.
This whole thing makes me sick. It’s quite clear that this is the Middleton camp because I don’t believe there is one single story where Kate herself looks bad.
The Sussexes have got to see at this point that they need their own admin and PR staff. They – Meghan primarily – are being thrown to the wolves and I hope they decide that they cannot continue like this.
And speaking of this all coming from the Kate camp, please do an article on Carole’s huge interview (wearing the same dress as her daughter). I just want to be sure that all the peeps who came for Doria when there was just the RUMOR that she sat for an Oprah interview will have the same guns blazing, tsk tsk attitude and it’s just never done comments for an ACTUAL article put out by the Middletons and sanctioned by the Cambridges (since she quotes Kate as wishing her good luck with the interview). Somehow I’m guessing the comments will be much different by most of those who said Doria shouldn’t do the article and we’ve never seen the Midds do such a thing…except that we totally have seen them do it over (Pippa) and over (James) and over (Carole).
Carole has long been seen wearing Kate’s designer public wardrobe which is paid for by the taxpayer as Chuck claims it all back at expenses. Why aren’t the rags in arms about her leeching. I leaves all to guess why.
We know why, DU. Same reason the Middletons can give interviews and the White Markles can give interviews and Doria can’t. Same reason Kate can have a million pound clothing and jewelry budget and Meghan can’t (even when she works more than Kate). Same reason Kate can light candles for her wedding and there’s not a peep but Meghan doing the same shows a lack of understanding about royalty and traditions. We know the reason.
The outrage over Doria getting a car ride with them to an engagement was as if she tried to steal money from the Queen, but meanwhile Carole can play twinsies with her adult daughter and several open questions as to who paid for the identical dress.
Carole specifically says in the second interview that it’s not the identical dress Kate wore. I think the Middleton girls were raised to have the same taste so I’m not surprised they’ve all been seen wearing the same outfits as each other. I accidentally twinsie my mom now and then because I just absorbed her style growing up. That said, I wonder if the editor was having a bit of fun including those two dresses, because I’m sure the shoot involved another outfit or two they could have gone with instead. Still a bit strange Carole would choose both as options, though!
@Lexa – the fact that it was brought up and she replied to it shows that the Mids and Cambridges read the comment sections on the Fail and probably sites like this. This is part of a new campaign aimed at changing the narrative around themselves and the Cambridges by pulling the Sussex’s and Doria down.
While Andrew started this with the tiara story, the Cambridges/Middletons are running with it. They need to change the negative PR narrative around them and have always done it by chucking Harry and/or Chuck in front of the bus.
Plus is on the front page of the Fail website that they will be with Dowager Queen Mother In Waiting Carole this Christmas at her £4.7 million mansion in Buckleberry (the Fail always love to snarkily point that out, esp as it was rumoured that William gave them some of the money to buy it as they couldn’t afford to on their own). She also talks about how George and Charlotte will have their own christmas trees to decorate. There is NO WAY she would use the kids as PR props without the go ahead from W&K. Its just further proof of who is behind this latest round of attacks on Meghan.
Well okay then if you think Kate and her mother are the same size.
Digital: Carole & Pippa both. It’s appalling. And that red coat Carole’s wearing in an article from today’s DM is one definitely worn by Kate for a work event, even if that one particular dress wasn’t. They’ve shared handbags, coats, & dresses amongst the three of them, all of which have been worn by the duchess for official events.
I agree with Kaiser that a bunch of narratives are colliding, and that the pile on is happening because the initial stories from the Jobson book opened the gates for people to air their grievances. So, yes, I do believe that where there’s smoke there’s fire—too many of the stories and the reporters cite multiple sources for it to be entirely made up, and the denials from the palaces have been few and far between. Many factors could have contributed to Meghan being short with staff, or why she requests were being interpreted that way. I think she’s a perfectionist and has been under incredible pressure, and the family and staff didn’t know her well enough at the time to know how to read her in those situations.
But the Daily Mail finally spelled out my theory on this last night/this morning with the article they posted that included the clarifying details of Meghan wanting the Vladimir tiara, Will voicing his concerns to Harry, Meghan supposedly being rude at Amner to staff and Charles sweeping in to smooth things over (again, most of this is originating with the Jobson book cast-offs which utilized both Clarence House aides/courtiers and Buckingham Palace aides/courtiers), etc—that one. There’s been an ongoing rebrand of Kate in the lead up to her new initiative (and to differentiate her from Meghan) which Carole’s interview is part of (or maybe Will saw Doria get to attend an official event and just wanted some spotlight for his MIL, or the interview was arranged months ago along with the Katie Nicholl story in case Carole got dragged during the positive press for Charles’ birthday?). See also: the Steel Marshmallow and Golden Age of KM stories.
As someone basically said outright in the DM, Kate mostly towed the line with them and bowed to their expectations and wishes. That’s why they are protecting/rewarding her and they are punishing Meghan because she’s somehow not and pushing back. They are absolutely flexing by applying pressure to see if she’ll bend. I think this is more complex than Carole and/or Kate being jealous post-H&M’s tour—I genuinely think these aides saw the success or thought Meghan would use the success as leverage and went for the jugular by dragging her back down to earth so quickly.
They’re not citing multiple sources though. All of these reporters are being fed the same kind of stuff from the same source. They are even referencing each other in their articles because they know this. This is orchestrated and I would have to believe multiple people, who aren’t talking to each other, all ran to the media, at the same time with stories that make the Cambridge’s look like victims of the Sussex’s? Unlikely.
Jobson messed up with the Harry line and he’s been trying to distance himself from this smear campaign since. When the tiara story came out and he was quoted, he claimed he had nothing to do with it. Now this is happening and he’s been on a few networks saying it’s excessive and unfair and even tweeted the same thing. That’s why I don’t think Clarence House is apart of this. They gave him access to Charles for his book and he basically screwed up and opened the window for his words to be twisted and turned into this.
The Cambridge-Middleton’s have been using reporters to paint Charles as an uninvolved grandfather who is distant with his sons, etc for a while. They thought they could paint Meghan has the irritating boss who is messing up Kensington Palace both professionally and personally. The problem was, that narrative doesn’t stick well because Meghan’s never known to be difficult and they used a media who’s had it out for her for a while. They were sloppy and it snowballed into a full blown attack that is just beyond ridiculous and looks cruel.
Don’t buy the ‘devious aides’ angle.
I do actually feel sorry for Kate and her dreary ‘Broken Britain ‘ initiative. If only they had chosen something genuinely close to Kate’s heart … Is it too late to cast the initiative as ‘Healing Broken Britain Through Sports’?
Yeah, I was hoping that Harry would be more helpful in all this. Meghan said during their engagement interview that she understood the monarchy. I really don’t think she did and that’s Harry’s fault. It’s pretty obvious that Harry and Meghan don’t have the patience for the long game and that’s the only game the monarchy plays.
Meg’s been in the RF for less than a year. She doesn’t have a momager controlling the narrative but otherwise hasn’t really done anything shocking?
@Leyton: They ARE though—“Palace aideS” and “Royal insiderS” are giving them information. They do specify when it is a single aide or a single friend, and those have been in the mix. They are obviously picking up and running with the stories being published in other outlets, often to give their own stories context, but the real reporters tend to verify stories with their own sources to confirm the validity of them.
Here’s an example with Valentine Low confirming the tiara story independently: https://mobile.twitter.com/valentinelow/status/1061245578292674565 (side note but also relevant: https://mobile.twitter.com/valentinelow/status/1061245578292674565)
That’s why, to me, it seems like more than one person is leaking and clarifying the stories in the Jobson book.
And for the record, Charles isn’t innocent in how he uses the press to better his image at the expense of his sons. They ALL do this to craft their own narratives about themselves, even Meghan (think of how many “game changer” stories we also read about her during the engagement!) so I’m not sure why he gets a pass because the big bad Middletons, led by Satan’s Sister Carole Middleton, supposedly planted stuff about him.
Meghan is not stupid enough to demand a certain tiara. Based on her actions so far, I’d say she gratefully looked at what the Queen offered, and she, Harry, and the Queen made the selection.
The fact that some people believe that the Cambridges,or even better Carole Middleton!! are behind all these pre-wedding stories about tiaras,assistants named Melissa reduced to tears ,clashes with Buckingham palace for some atomisers,and this last story obviously comes from the palace itself, is just ridiculous. These leaks come from palace aides and the Jobson’s biography opened the Pandora’s box with the “what Meghan wants Meghan gets” line and describing both of them as demanding. There’re three or four stories circulating and the press is revealing or completely making up new bits and pieces every week,like the last daily mail piece about the Harry-William feud that is the same Katie Nicholl’s story about William not wanting to roll up the red carpet,and Charles saving the Christmas LOL. That VF piece was also very reminiscent of the Jobson’s biography sanctioned by Charles. And they evidently knew who this Mellissa was since the beginning.
It’s not like it’s even a good smear job. It’s so ham-handed and obvious that this is coming from the Cambridge/Middleton camp. The biggest tell? Meghan is ignoring it. If she viewed this recent rash of media as a credible threat, she would be doing something about it. But that would be lowering herself to respond to such amateurs. The only threat ever to Kate getting what she wanted is William, himself. If any of the aristo girls had ever shown the slightest interest in marriage, she would have been history in the blink of a ‘lazy, drunk, social climbing wannabe’ headline. This American is usurping her 2nd coming of Princess Diana fantasies and she and mom are trying to do something about it despite being completely ill-equipped to compete with someone who succeeded in a far uglier rat race than the royal family. Bless their hearts.
I believe like others have commented it’s Prince Andrew behind it trying to bury the Jeffrey Epstein story
I agree with this! I think all these stories are here because the Epstein case. Prince Andrew has a good chance of being called out in the Epstein case, and the palace is just throwing around all this shitstories and the press is running with them because drama sells.
I don’t think is all Andrew though, in my opinion its a mixture of Charles (for the boost in his image) and the disgruntled courtiers, with a touch of plain lies to gain clicks.
Meghan might have been an exigent bride (as many are, and it wouldn’t be so strange if your wedding were to be televised) but this is reaching stupidity levels. She suggested something, and it was turned down, an better alternative was offered and every one is happy.
Oh, that’s an interesting take. What a depraved story… And much of it centered at Dear Leader’s Florida compound. I think the BRF is also anxious about Brexit and the Queen’s health. Storms are on the horizon… And in this age of heroes crashing to earth — priests, moguls, stars, etc. — it’s hard to keep up the underlying sense of specialness required to sustain a royal family. But I’m American…hard to understand anyway, and I lived in England and have family there…
This 100%. Andrew is about to be exposed to an abhorrent degree.
Andrew makes more sense than the Middletons. I mean, they would have to get William’s approval, I’m sure Kate wouldn’t dare to piss him off. But Andrew was already pissed and he needs stories. Either him or brexit cover up.
No one likes Andrew enough to go along with this kind of campaign. Also, the Cambridge’s would be pissed if they were being used without their consent to push this narrative. That’s why I know they are involved.
All of this happened when it was confirmed that the Sussex were moving to Frogsmore and after it was leaked to Emily Andrews that it was because of William and Harry were growing further apart. The narrative was set with that and it just exploded after the announcement.
Nobody in the public likes Andrew, but he is the Queen’s favourite son. But most important, the monarchy can stand quarreling brothers, wives that don’t get along, lazy sons and divorces; but in the ‘me too’ time evento the monarchy will hace a hard time explaining a pedophile prince.
I think the Middleton interview was done before all this shitstorm. The telegraph is just riding the wave and publishing what they have. The middletons in particular don’t seem to have any more to gain, and the cambridges don’t come out very well from this picture. Meghan is taking the blunt of everything, but even then what she is criticised for is for working hard, being a force of nature and a proactive change.
I think all these leaks started in two directions: ones to make Charles look good and others are just here to make people distracted over the implications of Andrew,s case.
No one likes Andrew enough? You do realize she’s the Queen’s favorite child and she’s always protected him, right?
The blind hatred of the Cambridges has gotten wayyy out of hand. Half the conspiracy theories don’t even make sense.
Not blind hatred, AMiller, just following the available evidence. If the Cambridges don’t want this vilification campaign to be on them they can take steps to express their outrage at their pregnant SIL being relentlessly hounded. They could use their influence with the press to call for an end to it. How hard is that?
The level of assault against Meghan is physically shocking, and the eyes of the whole world are upon this. The truth will out.
funny how you’re bringing up ‘metoo’ when the rather bad treatment of a woman of colour by a high profile royal is exactly the type of action the metoo movement was made for.
@Concerned:
The problem with just imagining that Meghan was rude at little Charlotte’s fitting is that she wasn’t even there. She wasn’t at any of the fittings for the children. Why would she be?
There’s far too much imagination going on here.
@letitrain As much as this behaviour agsinst Meghan is abhorrent let me say that I consider much more serious the possibility of a Prince that has young girls lended to him as if they were sexual objects. It is not the first scandal of this type to rock the upper class in britain, but in this time it would be damaging to the Crown.
Meghan Markle is just a birracial woman who married into an archaic institution and is being used in a press dar, she is not a ‘me too’ víctim here; she is a víctim of obsolete rules, a cultural change and racism.
If we are to believe all the stories that William is petulant & difficult, Harry is unpredictable & throws tantrums, then why not believe that Meghan does have a lousy way of talking to royal staff? Hollywood & the royal household are two very different entities and perhaps she hasn’t yet figured out the difference in how things are run.
I don’t know why either.
Seems the go-to is to instead blame the all powerful – all conquering
C Middleton :))
Carole THE BRAIN Middleton, taking over the world. 🙂
My garage door opener is broken, wondering if Carole could take care of that.
Carole Middleton has probably found the cure to Cancer among her many, many other fabulous achievements lol 🤣.
@zebracross – one difference is that William has said himself he is difficult and petulant (himself stating he will disobey staff just because he can and admitting he doesn’t read his briefings) and Harry has been caught on film doing stupid things (Vegas, anyone?). Whereas for Meghan, no one that has ever worked with her in any past capacity has said she is anything other than kind, professional, hardworking, etc) and we’ve never seen or heard her firsthand – like we have with the brothers, or even Sophie yelling at her RPO! – being anything other than professional, polite, and prepared.
Don’t confuse the speculation with facts, RW
I’m not sure what speculation v facts you think I’m confused about (unless you mean that the photos of Sophie’s angry expression wasn’t actually her yelling, but that was just her ‘thank you very much’ face).
I mentioned facts that came from the source’s own mouth (William) and photographic evidence (Harry). We’ve never seen Meghan exploding at her RPO or Amy and we’ve never heard her make comments like Will did about not reading his briefings. On the other hand, we have heard Meghan speaking about wanting to be a woman who works and we’ve seen her first big charity endeavor become a huge success.
Should have tagged my sarcasm, RW
Ss if someone is caught w a sour expression and the Daily Mail or tabloids claims a person was yelling and angry, it’s automatically true? Lol. Ok
@Koneulle. Look at the picture. It’s from 2011, shortly before the Cambridge marriage. It’s more than a sour expression. She’s aggressive.
I know the picture, know the story but it was the Daily Mail interpretation, so I DO NOT TRUST IT. Sophie has one sour looking photo walking towards a car or curb and we are suppose to believe it because the Daily Mail said something?
Also I clearly remember just before the Cambridge marriage and even during the first year, the Daily Mail was trying to paint Sophie as having some problem with Kate and drama between those two women, so it’s modus operandi for the Daily Mail to always have a good Princess, Bad Princess scenario going on in their paper. But what they are doing to Meghan is even more disgusting because it’s hate filled racism. IMO
I also believe that the Daily Mail has ALWAYS had a tear Meghan down agenda ( the Daily Mail is just plain RACIST or caters to certain hate filled readers) and many of these Meghan drama-template stories were already written in their computers and ready to go with new tidbits added and current persons inserted the day of the Engagment.
Much of the story agenda has always been meant to prop up the supposed golden heir PW and lazy, lackluster Kate
I looked at those photos and I don’t see yelling from Sophie.
He could have informed her that they had to move because of an idiot driver parking his car incorrectly and she expressed annoyance about that or another third party.
People in her past life have said that Meghan has cut them off, appeared ambitious, and let the success of Suits change who she is.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, in that I was just passing through the comments, but what you claim about what others’ have said about her demeanor is wrong.
Because it didn’t start at this level until after the wedding and the pregnancy announcement and their hugely successful trip? It’s 1000000% obvious someone is trying to knock her down a peg.
It took years for William to get this label. And Harry was playing strip poker in Vegas just six years ago. Meghan is supposed to be very good at getting along with people and even the Markles and her ex-best friend haven’t been able to give details about her being a diva. Meghan supposedly even offended the Queen so according to the stories she’s been a terror to quite a few people which doesn’t seem plausible.
There is a common link in some of these stories which is Meghan supposedly offends a staff member and then a royal of higher status supposedly steps in and apparently puts Meghan in her place. Someone behind the scenes really doesn’t like taking orders from Meghan, something which has always been a problem for the married-ins going back to Philip.
Wholeheartedly agree. This is “I’m not taking orders from the new wife/biracial woman” backlash.
I think the Harry quote is being misinterpreted: Prince Harry says to staff:
What Meghan Wants Meghan Gets.
It’s because staff didn’t want to respect her and second guessing her directives like she’s nonexistent. “Give her some respect” is that better. He wasn’t saying let her act like a brat. But it’s her wedding, let her plan it.
I question all of this though. Meghan has been seen as determined, hardworking, but also kind, friendly and respectful. All of a sudden we believe she’s cruella as soon as she enters KP? With not a single quoted,named source. In order to fundamentally take these stories seriously we need named sources bc it’s just throwing shit to a wall now. Now we have church staff and RS leaking stories about a bride – how sway, priests. Melissa, great job not showing your future employers you’re not totally a snitch. Who goes to work for the new Duchess and thinks it’s a walk in the park. I do agree there’s several different winners benefitting from trying to destroy dos reputation – and that’s the goal right, rewrite everything we know about Duke and Duchess into a couple who didn’t know each other and for inside the palace and Meghan’s more demanding than the queen even tho she’s from LA lol (LA, known for its workaholic cruel bosses lol Sure, Jan)
This is embarrassing to everyone.
I think Melissa is going to find it a little difficult to get a job in the future, too. She will be seen as someone who lacks discretion and has a big mouth.
It took them years to get that label. Meghan’s been in the Royal Family for 6 month and for years priors , we couldn’t find one story about her being any of those things. I’m supposed to believe that a woman so many have come across and said was hard working, professional, and sociable, turned into a bitch overnight? Her dog walker in Toronto said she was polite and nice when other clients weren’t always.
It’s not believable.
It might not really be that she is a bitch. It might be than she is doing royal tours in a manner somebody senior doesn’t like.
I read a few weeks ago her security team was concerned about her wanting to hug the public.
Could be her plans for raising her children are too off the wall.
Or just could be jealousy from William or Charles.
Obviously if it is a reason like William being jealous, they have to put out she is rude and difficult.
End of day, fair or not, she and Harry need to find out what is going on, and perhaps fix it if they can.
IMO The Daily Mail had these template angry fill in label woman, opinionated stories ready to go the press at engagement and the rest is already written and filed in the Daily Mail computers ready for another tear down of Meghan.
Daily Mail is a racist paper but the world picks up their nasty mean spirited stories as fact, when most of it is just made up lies.
P
Racism – royal style.
“I did not see this coming” said absolutely nobody.
Chin up Meg – we love you, and haters can fall in a charming country well and die.
+ a million!
Amen! She’s going to do something brilliant next which will cause more angst among the evil doers.
What did the staff member do?
The phrasing attributed to Kate is similar to something William said when someone from the RAF spoke to Jamie Lowther Pinkerton about William’s behavior back when William was playing his commitments to royal duties and his commitments to the RAF against each other. I’m trying to remember if it was a thing where William pretended to be busy but wasn’t or it was connected to the incident when he got sloppily drunk at a RAF party in front of superiors, but William reportedly hit the roof and said that this was his member of staff and he would be the one to talk to him.
BTW, whether or not Kate said anything, she would never let her actual words be part of a story. That’s too close to her. Better to let other people share their observations with minimal details about her except to be be vaguely positive.
And has Toubati been the “impeccable” royal source his whole time or is she backed up by someone who wants to stay private?
Conspiracy theory: The Yorks recommended Toubati to Meghan and used her as a mole!
“Conspiracy theory: The Yorks recommended Toubati to Meghan and used her as a mole!”
That’s actually a really good theory!
The staff member thing I can actually “almost” believe – not that Meghan was horribly rude to them or anything, but that there was a bit of a power/control struggle and Kate did say something like “she works for me” or something, when in reality the staffer worked for both the Sussexes and the Cambridges. If that happens enough – the splitting of the offices at this point is just inevitable.
Its been obvs for years that the KP household was run by and for the Cambridge’s, the fact that it took the palace over a WEEK to officially refute ANY of these stories is very telling to me. It all started when Harry was in Zambia and it’s no coincidence that the statement from KP comes whe he’s back in the U.K.
But it’s not just the Cambridge’s and Middletons behind this campaign but Andrew too. As others state he’s trying to bury the Epstein story and it’s partly revenge for them ‘stealing’ his daughters wedding thunder with their pregnancy announcement and successful tour. As for Fergie yeah she’d stoop to this BS as well.
Wow, the Cambridges, Middletons AND the Yorks? This conspiracy runs deep!
I would die laughing if Harry and Meghan announced their second pregnancy three days after the other daughter’s wedding.
The denial that the incident even happened came from Buckingham Palace (the Queen), not Kensington Palace.
“Conspiracy theory: The Yorks recommended Toubati to Meghan and used her as a mole!”
that’s interesting. Melissa Toubati previously worked as a PA for Robbie Williams. And R. Williams was invited to the York wedding and his daughter was one of the flower girls.
BTW: All these articles make Toubati sound like she is a young intern, but she is 39.
Good lord this is ridiculous. I knew they would try to make her responsible for all the evils in the world eventually , but I really thought it would take longer than this. They couldn’t wait to tear her down. It’s disgusting.
Yes, it is ridiculous. Also, petty, vicious and what should be beneath the moral standards of a royal family so many believe are Meghan’s betters. But, like several people have commented here, I believe the source of these rumors are coming from several parties inside and outside the BRF, and are meant to distract, profit, elevate and undermine. So, take your pick on who benefits from them but, to me, it’s clear the tabs, Charles, the Cams, the vindictive palace staff and even Andrew are (air quotes) winning. Sad.
Yes, I thought it would happen after the pregnancy.
It’s really disgusting what they put her through.
Damn…..they are coming for her neck!!! She’s pregnant. Leave the woman alone FFS!!!
Exactly! Hopefully she’s not paying any attention to this and just getting ready to move into the new place and preparing for the baby with Harry but if she is, think about all the stress it’s putting on her while she’s pregnant! It’s disgusting.
You can tell by the level of vitriol in the leaks and the stories that someone or somebody either felt humiliated by Meghan or threatened on some existential levdl. Whatever she did or said she shook them up. Meghan will have to adjust to a certain degree but my money is on the scrappy biracial American upstart. She hasn’t gotten where she is in the world by standing down and playing it safe.
I’m pretty sure all the young royals are particular and petulant. Will, Harry, Charles, Philip, Andrew all seem to believe theyre the hostess with the most-est.
The PA that left worked previously for Madonna, she’s used to particular for sure. I bet the stress of a royal wedding with all the craziness that led up to it was something she’s never seen before (not even uber perfectionist Madonna could prepare you for that) and I would imagine if I would not stay in that post long either.
The rest are just little nothing burger stories blown out of proportion.
Total nothingburgers. “Megs asked for a tiara! She asked for air freshner and was refused! She had a small disagreement with her SIL before a very stressful wedding! *GASP!*”
I mean, it would be boring if it weren’t for all of us wondering where the heck the leaks are coming from.
I think someone wants her out of the family, fullstop. This has reached insane levels. Bullying a pregnant woman…despicable.
The air freshener story is so stupid. Is that the best these goons have? Give me a break.
That someone is Samantha Markle.
Samantha… now that’s an interesting theory since she’s been strangely quiet. Maybe she’s just as evil, but more subtle now. The DM would gladly do her dirty work.
Yes, that is my constant thought. How can they do this to a pregnant first time mother to be, who has committed no big crime? It is totally pathetic and pure wickedness. William and Kate when are you going to say something and back up the anti bullying campaigns that you too are supposed to be spearheading?? Hypocrites!
Not only that, PrincessK, but where are all the defenders of Kate during her pregnancy that, as a pregnant woman she needed to take it easy and be looked after and not be harassed about working more, etc. etc. Why aren’t all those people out now raising hell about how another pregnant royal is being publicly shredded, bullied, and harassed? Shouldn’t all those people who wanted Kate to have a safe and restful pregnancy be here now, shouting from the rooftops (i.e. social media) to leave pregnant Meghan alone? Instead all we get are crickets, or worse, piling on. It’s gross.
Omg the white tears.
I understand the theory that Charles is behind these leaks, and as I’ve said before I imagine he is behind “some” of them, but not all of them.
The leaks that make Kate look like the victim, that make Kate look like she is trying to be above it all, that make Kate look like she is patiently looking on as Meghan fumbles and makes mistakes….yeah, those are from Camp Cambridge/Middleton.
Who knew British women were so fragile? What ever happened to that stiff upper lip thing? Now they’re breakimg into tears when someone supposedly speaks harshly to them! The whole idea is ridiculous!
Lol, everyone keeps mentioning her surname, not realising she is a fellow woman of colour. Nice try calling her white, though. She’s French of North African ethnicity.
….because no one else in the RF is ever demanding, right???? 🙄
“I don’t like a black woman with authority over me telling me what to do.” Is how it reads
They are not going to be happy until they get a divorce.
The real moral of this story is that any celebrity in the future that hires Melissa Toubatti is now fully warned: she can’t handle a high pressure job, and she will quit and then sell all sorts of dirt about you to the tabloids.
Yeah, I work in a high pressure sales job. We get new managers who are jerks but you learn to work with them. Doesn’t look very good for the employee that she cant adapt to a new boss.
This is what always amazes me: if you want to keep having an high profile career you must keep your mouth shut. People change jobs for whatever reasons, that’s ok, but if you spit all those kind of details? People would think more than twice before hiring you.
She worked for both Madonna and Robbie W. with no problems before working for Meghan, so this story really only makes Meghan look more unhinged than those two instead harming her own reputation.
Also, employees’ right to stand up to harassment by their employer should never be suppressed or called “being unprofessional”.
This @Hikaru. A woman of colour is in the wrong here because she spoke about her boss being rude? okay then.
I still think the leaks are coming from Charles’ official biographer. He spent a year around Charles, his courtiers etc. What he couldn’t publish in the book, perhaps he leaked to the papers. And while the attacks on Meghan are way more than the rest, none of the princes end up looking good. Harry “what Meghan wants, Meghan gets!” William being “a little grand” Kate crying for everything. It doesn’t make any of them look good. Have yall noticed that Charles is the one that hasn’t had any “negative press”? And that he is notorious about not standing when a royal woman close to him attracts more attention than him? Or when he has thrown his sons under the bus in the press before?!
That biographer is up the Cambridge’s ass, he has previous for defending them against critics.
Jobson has been distancing himself from this because he knows he messed up. He got in with a Royal and indirectly lead to the media hitjob of another. Clarence House doesn’t want the association because the last thing Charles need to is to take the fall for this which would be the Cambridge’s killing two birds with one stone.
I agree. The tiara stuff comes from his reasearch, but all the other petty stuff comes from elsewhere.
so now you believe the tiara story? Hahah
Yes, some of this is coming from the awful smug Jobson, stuff he could not put in his book that will not sell much anyway, because nothing he says is really new or interesting.
Agreed, this is Jobson. Occam’s razor applies.
I also think the leaks are by someone who is savvy about revealing the information to the press: rather than dump the entire Kate vs. Meghan story at once, he teased little bits of information at a time, progressing from Kate crying before the wedding (leaving us all to wonder WHY) to “Megs was super mean to Kate’s staff!”
Will Kate and Megs make up? Will the women have a Royal Death Match? How will Jobson end the saga? Tune in next week…
The church was filled with fresh flowers, so air freshner story makes no sense. The press are more than happy to vilify this woman. The royals have always been very dysfunctional on their own without anyone new marrying into the family. Don’t blame Harry & Meghan one bit for wanting to come away from the restraints of Kensington palace & set out on their own.
There were candles burning at the alter so I’ll go out on a limb and say they were scented to the brides specifications (it’s normal at weddings from my understanding) and that there was NO issue with that.
Well Meghan seems to be opinionated and ballsy, she was never gonna fit into the stuffy royal protocol and maybe doesn’t care too adapt too much. Can’t blame her, many of the traditions are ancient, but that’s also part of it’s charm for people probably. I’m not a royalist so I couldn’t even imagine being independent and marrying into such a strictly governed institution. These stories are all ridiculous and seem like some scene from a movie (especially the awful comments at Daily Mail) where the gossiping peasants in the 16th century are huffing and puffing about the gall of the new royal bride or something lol. People are really showing their a**es !
These rumors started more than 2 weeks ago, and the Palace has been VERY quiet so far. So whoever is behind all these leaks – Charles, the former assistant, the courtiers, C. the Brain Middleton – why isn’t the Palace shutting it down?
They did come out and say that the argument between Kate and Meghan never happened. That in itself is unusual-they don’t typically comment on tabloid stories.
I just wish that they just let story slide because f they denied 1 story and not the others then they indirectly implied that the others undenied stories are true. There is even stories about Meghan was rude to staffs at Government house in Australia. The press in UK is clearly wanting to destroy Meghan. I would think the Middleton has a hand in it, at least stories that painted Kate as being bullied by Meghan. Notice all negative stories about Meghan come out after rumour about Doria got invited to the Queen ‘ Christmas.
I wondered that too which tells me it’s more than just some ex-staff. They’ve dealt with that but no one ex-staff has the pull to accomplish this kind of campaign. It’s backed by a Royal team and I think we all agree it’s the Cambridge-Middleton team. It’s all Kensington centered and KP is a bit “off” from the other Royal houses so what goes wrong usually has little to do with other houses.
These leaks don’t come from one source,but it’s quite evident that they do come from palace staff with some PR spin. And everything started with Charles’ biography. The story about the William-Harry feud before Christmas obviously comes from Charles’ camp. Now the daily mail is riproposing it with an additional Meghan-Kate feud at Amner Hall with Charles saving the holidays. The story about Buckingham refusing the atomisers evidently comes from a palace aid too. Blaming the Cambridges and Carole LOL for stories like this one is ludicrous.
I don’t think it is anything about race. The press there tried to destroy Diana amd Fergi, both who are whiter than white. They have also been cruel to Kate in the past. Why assume they are being a$$holes because she is biracial?
It is all about vicious gossip and causing a stir. Megan shouldn’t take it personally, it has been going on forever. They will get bored with her once she has her baby.
I will reiterate what I said a few days ago. Henry and Meghan can leave the Firm if they want. People are going to gossip no matter what!
Agree.
As if Meghan’s race has anything to do with this coverage.
It’s a little naive to assume that her race has nothing to do with this.
Yes, there were tons of stories about Diana and Fergie in the 80s and 90s. So much on how they treated staff, other royals, their immediate family, each other, spending money on clothes, trips, famous friends, parties they attended etc.
We assume it is at least in part because she is biracial because the press went out of its way to stoke plain as day racism against her before the wedding.
It’s a tangled up mess. The Daily Mail’s Straight Outta Compton story was unmitigated racism, full stop. But it was inevitable that the press would go after Meghan eventually because they do it to all the women who marry into The Firm. Yes, racism is a factor but Meghan was never going to be left in peace by the press.
For the tabloids, it’s all about money. These exact stories were going to be written regardless of the people.
Exactly. I think Americans are having harder time of it because she’s one of their own, but the other Royal brides before were also put through the wringer.
No one has been put through it like Meghan, not even Letizia and that hate filled C-named forum.
My only question is, why is the aforementioned Jo Malone candle $67?? Do people really pay $67 for a candle??
Yes, airhead trophy wives who’s husbands have more money than you can shake a stick at. Diptyque is just as expensive.
Me, I’m a Yankee Candles kinda girl.
I never really thought Jo Malone Candles are anything special. Just give me Yankee candles any day.
That seems an unnecessarily cruel and sexist post, Digital Unicorn.
Some people drop $65 on tickets for movies and popcorn that lasts two hours. I spend the same amount on a candle that brings me many more hours of peaceful, fragrant serenity without bothering my sinuses or triggering a headache and I’m the airhead??
For that price I’ll be buying myself some nice perfume, not some overpriced candle.
I use my essential oils and herbs from my garden to make my own candles with soy wax. No migraines and no hefty price tag. If I ever do go for a purchased candle I like Woodwick.
I am not a Meghan fan, not for her, but because I think the Monarchy should be burned down and people should stop supporting all their royal a@!.
Having said that: this is exhausting.
I can’t say with confidence that the modern day royals are in fact “colour blind” and fully accepting of people who are not white. It seems a little convenient that Meghan could easily be taken for “white” (in some photos with her pal Jessica, I can’t tell them apart!) and could partially explain why they accepted her so quickly. If her skin was darker it may have been another story.
When the Queen took her on that overnight trip, I think she was sending a powerful message to the family and staff that she approves of Meghan, and that message probably needed to be made. Unfortunately, the Queen’s influence will start to go down over time.
I’m mixed, half black , half white. Meghan doesn’t look white to me. She looks half African American, half white. I am biracial, I see instantly that Megahn is part black. I thought she was a light skinned black woman, at first. I just don’t see her looking white. Her skin tone is not white. Her hair in her childhood photos is curly, I just don’t see the supposed looking white that others see.
I remember Meghan from the time she was on that game show w the suitcases. She didnt look white to me. I wasnt sure what she was mixed with but i didnt think she was all white. I think its silly when people say she looks like Pippa, wtf? Because she has brown hair and eyes? Smh
yes, she doesn’t look white to me either.
Are we all forgetting the high staff turnover rate for the Dollittles?
This is some next level disgustiness.
Girl is hitting the ground running, and little Katie keen is throwing a hissy fit.
All royals have relatively high staff turnovers on their staffs. Low pay, ridiculous hours.
Yep. Edward and Sophie also just had a staff member leave. Didn’t see any fake hand-wringing articles about how they made their staffers cry or staffers hate the Wessexes or Sophie is a bully or whatever.
It IS next level disgustingness. I completely agree. I really hope this is the catalyst (if it wasn’t already in motion) for Harry and Meghan to form their own admin and PR staff. This has to make it clear to them (if ever in doubt) that the “shared KP staff” is really only looking out for the Cambridges. Harry and Meghan need to do their own thing, with loyal staff who look out for the Sussex interests. The other (Charles’s generation) siblings don’t share admin staff, and neither should the Sussexes/Cambridges. Enough already.
The hostility to Kate is just as weird as the hostility to Meghan. Two sides of the same coin.
If anything Kate has press puffing her since she was a girlfriend doing three night a week nightclub outings, with no career, no job ,no goals except the ring and William Kate has been pushed by the press since the dating years when all she did after Uni was party , shop, vacation, yet the press only came up with Waity Katey as the worse offense.
Hello magazine once said, Kate seem to have had someone practically running a polictical campaign for her to get the ring.
Kate has never seen the hostility Meghan has had in a few months of marriage.
Some of The U.K. Press is battering a newlywed pregnant woman, it’s sick and disgusting.
I’m not a Meghan fan or critic. Have never met her. There is no way to be certain these stories are true or false.
But the giant wave of stories, from multiple sources, is different. The reporters writing and tweeting this week all make their living by having access to royal households.
Unlikely they are all burning bridges and ripping up their employment simultaneously this week.
Which means the stories are coming from courtiers. Most important question is why?
Are they being directed to leak by their royal employers? Or just disgruntled and complaining?
I have had a great deal of sympathy for her when her family members were tearing her apart. Some individuals rise above a parent like Thomas undamaged. Some do not.
It was no surprise she had no Markles at her wedding. But no one from her mother’s side was concerning. I do not know anyone who had a wedding involving guests with just one family member.
I’m not judging yet, but a question mark seems fair. As to the niceness of her royal in laws? They all seem to deserve the same question mark as well.
The story is that she did have raglands at the wedding! Some folks looked at all the pictures of guests and compared them to pictures of the Ragland family. With all the Markle drama, publicizing that raglands attended would have been even more of a circus!
It is very possible she had unnamed family present.
But having a wedding with hundreds of guests and just one known family member present doesn’t look great either.
It may have been genuinely her only option. But it raised questions in the press about why she had no family other than her mother.
She apparently had some family on both sides that she had maintained contact with on social media.
Would have been an experience of a lifetime for any of her extended family that could have been trusted to behave well.
Her niece is an attorney, and they were close on social media and the same age.
If I were Meghan, I would have wanted to shut down the narrative that she had cut off her past because she was becoming a royal.
I also would have wanted any family I had loved and who had loved and grown up with me to be there on the day.
If that was true then she wouldn’t have had her mother to the cookbook launch. She clearly isn’t trying to down play family to keep the Markles quiet. Some people said they thought they saw them, but the press would have latched on to that if there was any truth to it. They were all trying to get exclusives at the time.
hershey, she may have had the only family she did love and who supported and loved her in return with her at the wedding. The racist Markle side of the family showed who they really were.
@Hershey are you referring to the same niece who has spoken to the media multiple times?? that’s one reason to not invite her – no sense of discretion.
Doria was NOT the only member of her family present. The ones who who there do not want their identities revealed for obvious reasons, and they know how to keep their mouths shut.
Not doubting you, but how come you know this if they kept their mouths shut?
This made me laugh.
🙂
That would also make perfect sense @princessk
There are photos of the other family members African American, in some of the European magazines. The family members are discreet and know how to keep their mouth shut.
Also one of her Markle cousins was there, she never talks to the press. Go through Twitter you’ll find still photos of Meghans other family there.
I believe Philip had only his mother at his wedding.
Philip only had his mother because his father disowned him when he was a child and his sisters were married to Nazis. He was only 10 when he went to live with his mother’s family in Britain. The Mountbattens who raised him were at the wedding. So, the situation isn’t at all comparable.
They won’t stop until they get what they want which will be for Harry to renounce his title and step away. Can’t have the mix girl out doing the great white hope.
Exactly.
A psychic said William will be the one to step away, shockingly.
There’s probably a little bit of truth to everything, but to bombard a woman with child like this is unseemly – she doesn’t need this kind of stress.
I’m not putting this all on Kate and William, but I do feel there’s a stink around them with these stories. Kate is being described in the most flattering way she has ever been. “Steel Marshmallow.” Who would ever call her that? This all smacks of trying to protect her because the press and courtiers know that Meghan is working a little too hard and that’s not a good look for the future Queen who is supposedly so busy raising her kids…with nannies and servants to help.
I think it’s as simple as Kate being rewarded/protected for following their orders over the years and Meghan pushed back on them and is being shown how easily they can punish her if she refuses to fall in line.
What orders have Meghan disobeyed?! I’m not sure how you would know exactly what each woman has been “ordered” to do anyway. But, Meghan has not done anything inappropriate or out of line and hasn’t broken any protocols. I don’t get your comment. All Meghan has done is work more than Kate to this point in each of their marriages (and during their engagement periods).
That’s the question I have too, RoyalWatcher. My guess is that they didn’t love all of the articles about how Meghan was coming to change the game, or she could be pushing to do projects that they don’t approve of (for instance, something they deem as too political), or it could even be something as innocuous as their perceived sense that she’s too informal at events. None of us know for sure, but as Meghan, a driven person, was coming into this family having previously been in 100% control of her projects/life/appearance and talking a big game about what she and Harry were going to accomplish, it’s my educated guess. They had a predetermined set of expectations in their minds about her role and she and Harry want to do something different.
I think the kernel of truth is something very ordinary and not controversial that’s been twisted into a lie.
They’re co-opting a description of the Queen Mum to describe Kate now? Laughable.
Samantha is a really sad, empty, bitter person.
I think some of the staff plus that Melissa woman are behind these stories someone said that most time the royal staff are the ones with the elites attitude. They probably were not giving meghan the same respect they give to the other royals and harry step in and the staffs got pissed. Notice that the timing of negative press started after Harry was gone for the African trip. I think the staff are resentful toward meghan because she a black woman who is now their boss I think they have no problem with talking to the press notice that all stories don’t paint katr or William as bad for the most part the Cambridge seen as being matured and just looking out for dim witted harry who has impulse control who in their eyes didn’t choose a good enough bride. The reasons the stories about meghan being a diva don’t ring true to me is because she been a working actress for years their not a one story about her being difficult at all just for one person on this site who never ever comment before into the stories blow up. That to me seem really suspicion you claim you have first hand evidence of meghan being a diva but you didn’t say anything for a whole year. That to me seem like a plant to make the meghan so horrible more believable.
I’m a little suspicious about that ‘first-hand evidence’ too. Just a little too convenient.
I tend to think these are stories planted by minions of power brokers who want to stir up more class division and racism to prevent a new Brexit vote from happening. Farage and other evil ones worked with Cambridge Analytica and Assange to steal that vote. Divide and conquer is their goal.
The other big question is why are people like Victoria Arbiter or Rebecca English burning bridges with Prince Harry?
He’s a popular member of the family. Ruining access to him and his household seems crazy.
Can’t see reporters like this angering Harry to help his hugely unpopular uncle Andy.
William, Charles, or the Queen are probably the only households with enough pull to get reporters like these to trash Meghan.
Could be jealousy. Or possibly there is a problem with Meghans behavior. If there have been concerns and private talks were not effective, I could see this as a means to rein Harry and/or Meghan in.
Them publishing stories like this, ones that seem like they would risk Harry’s wrath and ruin their access, implies to me that there’s some truth to these stories or that the reporters have verified them to the point that Harry doesn’t have a leg to stand on in protesting them. If he denies it, they can release more evidence. If it’s true and he blocks them, he looks vindictive and confirms the “dictatorial” label that’s been slapped on him in the most recent stories. (Another reason why I blame the courtiers: that is some next level scheming/groundwork to lay.) That’s my take from the convos I’ve had with friends who are journalists, but I would love to hear from anyone here who works in the field and get their opinion. Because you’re right—it does feel like a gamble.
It’s definitely Charles. He’s the one who called Meghan Tungsten. Tungsten is a very brittle metal that is difficult to work that literally causes cancer. It’s not some kind of strong unbending metal like the tabloids pretended.
It’s not Charles. Some people are just obsessed with making Charles out to be the villain of every piece. Charles has nothing to gain from this. It’s not him.
It could be Charles. He is either the mediator or saves the day in some of the articles. All summer all we read was how Charles adores Meghan…he was on the offensive because he knew what was going to come out from a book he authorized.
I agree, this whole media sh**show started with Charles and others have joined in.
Harry should put out another statement, it’s clear all the Royal reporters have been given the go-ahead to report on their nasty behaviour. They could and would release more, this rollout looks like they’re sitting on so much more. I don’t believe every single royal reporter is a liar.
Heir vs spare. The game never changes.
Don’t you remember the W&K press games around the children? Only reporters who wrote what they liked and didn’t publish certain photos of them were allowed to private meetings or invited to photograph at things like the christening. The royal tabloid writers want in good with W&K not with Harry and Meghan.
They want to goad Harry to release another statement about their unprovable lies, just so they can attack him for it. Instead, we have the Queen having Buckingham Palace deny the story. The Queen, not Kensington Palace.
That’s what I was thinking they want Harry to put out another statement. I think it’s best that Harry and Meghan ignore the tabloids and keep handling their business and stay focus on the good works they want to do, show the tabloids they can’t break them.
Awww for those who’ve never experienced racism and all it’s subtle or blatant shades, who think it’s only racist if they use the n-word. Just don’t comment on it. You have no experience with it.
Even the Diana comparison – it took years before she was blacklisted by staff and press. It didn’t happen all throughout their engagement, before and after the wedding.
There was some breathing room and blatant Charles actions that caused it.
That’s why the Cambridge’s actions seem a bit cruel. Meghan’s gotten great press but in a considerably short period of time. It took 4mos for anyone in KP to get this jealous that a take down needed to take place. You’d think with the amount of damage Charles and the Queen did in 1990’s they’d stay far away from gunning to destroy reputations. Same with William and Harry being on the end of those actions. Even Fergie, it’s taken a full decade+ To restore any decent reputation or the Queen, Charles and RF, the expediency with this take down is vulgar and not just like the others seeing as it’s against Prince Harry ultimately, not Meghan. Why? And why the timing counts, the world knows how shitty and cruel the Markles have been since they arrived in the press a year ago, so now DoC and Prince Charles attack their own family from the inside? Do they want DoS isolated away from all family. How cruel.
Candles, really? Even the tiara story was silly and conflicting, bridesmaids dresses, being mean to staff ? Eye roll.
How was the tiara story conflicting? The Times has put out another story about the Queen waiting for Meghan to turn to her for help. Why do people think they know everything about the Queen? lol. our Queen can do whatever she wants! She refused the Vladimir tiara, so what? The hissyfit thrown by Harry and Meghan after the choice of tiara was turned down is so childish.
Because the QUEEN selects the Tiara. The Queen puts what is to be selected.
The tiara story was clearly false. The Queen selects the tiara, she doesn’t open the whole vault, let you pick one, then say no. That story reeks of Andrew if anyone.
You know, I just remembered that Richard Palmer dropped the nugget that Philip (and I’m guessing his circle?) refers to Meghan as The Dow—The Duchess of Windsor. Maybe they’re the ones pushing the SHE’S WALLACE REBORN narrative?
It’s buried in this story: https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/952400/lady-Gabriella-ex-boyfriend-kensington-palace-aatish-taseer
That would be one of the royal households with pull to use this group of reporters to put these stories out.
I can see Philip doing that, but, he’s got one foot in the grave, so…
There is no reason for “The Palace” or anyone in the royal family to try and destroy Meghan. There is every reason to present a smooth running machine to the world. Will and Kate don’t need to build up their image at the expense of family members; neither does Charles. Neither does Carole Middleton.
There is lots of reason for tabloids to write and run speculative stories based on clicks. They know what sells. This is their lifeblood. They are building on fodder first presented by the dysfunctional Markle family, and perhaps a few remarks by former employees with nothing left to lose. It is possible Meghan is more direct and more demanding than the norm in royal circles, and has left a few unhappy employees in her wake. Hardly a crime, and probably not the first time it has ever happened in the history of the BRF.
This isn’t 1550. The royals have offices and paid employees; not courts and courtiers. It isn’t unusual at all for employees to bad mouth former employers. I have done it myself. I think that is what is happening here.
I don’t think anyone in the royal family is trying to de-legitimize Meghan. I also think she is savvy enough to sail through and build a decent life within her new role. I hope she doesn’t spend time reading crap and instead focuses on what she wants to accomplish.
The reporters writing and tweeting this week all have strong ties to royal households. Some of the individuals putting their names to these stories know the royal family socially as well.
Invented fabricated stories about the royals are published all the time.
But not by these folks. The information in the stories is coming from a royal household.
It is possible the courtiers have provided information that is incorrect or incomplete. Or just biased.
But it is coming from a royal household, not from a fib writing hack.
Courtiers? Again, I think the royals themselves would be surprised to find such people in their midst. The Queen still has a few ladies in waiting and retainers floating around, but everyone else runs up to date offices, and pays their staff. Not well, but they do get paid. It is a business. A publicly funded, flush with cash business.
I think there is a germ of truth (Meghan demands a lot ) that came from an office or from the personal staff at one of the many homes the royals inhabit. But I also think it has been embellished and repeated so that it has taken on a form that is unrecognizable. Now everyone is back to “Charles throws his children under the bus!” “Andrew throws Charles family under the bus!” or my personal favorite, “William throws Harry under the bus! Because he CAN!”
It’s a shame though because these stories are probably causing a lot of tension between Harry & Meghan and his family. They won’t know who to trust. I hope Charles steps in and steps up to shut this down. I would hate to think people on his staff have anything to do with this, especially since Meghan likes him so much and has done much to repair his relationship with his son.
I am not sure Charles can step in and stop the tabloid wave. No one can.
The whole thing is a shame, though.
Good points.
I guess Andrew’s thrilled the story isn’t about him and his pedo buddy.
He probably is. It’s probably just a lucky, for him, coincidence.
LOL..I do not believe any of this.
Click bait and just what it is, gossip.
Victoria Arbiter grew up on the Kensington palace grounds. Her father, Dickie Arbiter was the Queens press officer for years.
Meghan and Harry have a genuinely big problem. No idea why, or if it is fair or deserved. William all by himself could not presuade Victoria Arbiter to trash Meghan like this.
I worked alongside Dickie Arbiter for a short while years back. He has been putting Meghan in a negative light. Another ex employee who keeps in the limelight, don’t these people get pensions? But what has Victoria been saying to trash Meghan??
Dickie has tweeted a lot of negative/shady things about Meghan going back to the early days of their relationship.
https://twitter.com/royaldickie/status/935915426709737472?lang=en
https://twitter.com/Nouveau_Camelot/status/1033000632297242624
https://twitter.com/DingleDreams/status/1032834991670128645
Well that’s not super great news for Meghan than is it. Dickie wasn’t fired, he left on good graces.
He is seen as a very credible royal source.
I’m not saying the shady things are true or fair. But if he is saying them, those shady opinions are likely present elsewhere.
Victoria commented on the kate crying story on inside edition.
But these stories this week have come from several well connected reporters with real ties to royal households.
He isn’t on great terms with the Queen or Charles. He published a tell all in 2014.
https://twitter.com/RoyalDickie/status/1067400699091259393
I am not good at posting links, but I think the above is a fairly recent comment from Arbiter referring to the move to Windsor, where he says that there are so many things that Meghan is no longer going to allow Harry to do, implying that she is very controlling.
I find his comment very sexist because there are also lots of things that Harry will not let Meghan do now that she is married to him.
I agree with this assessment. I suspect Harry and Meghan have overstepped. It happens. They’re human. The monarchy was never going to bend to their will entirely. They will have to work within the establishment and accept more modest efforts at reform. Which is still within their grasp. She was never going to be the People’s Princess. Kate understood this thanks to her upbringing but she still had to run the tabloid gauntlet.
The people commenting on Dickie Arbitter’s most recent tweets are very complementary of Meghan and are calling bull on a lot of this.
It would be great if Kate & Meghan quickly arranged a joint appearance where they could spend some time together to squash all of this now, something to do with children or military families this time of year? If they don’t try to do something, it is going to get a lot worse.
I am not sure why it would be up to Meghan and Kate to repair this, although joint appearances would probably be welcomed for the PR aspect alone.
They will probably all appear at Christmas together, smiling and projecting the happy family image.
I agree, and I think the reason they are NOT doing a joint photo or appearance: the friction/fight is truly between the brothers and they aren’t allowing it. Kate is not one to make mistakes or court bad PR, and Meghan is a pronounced feminist. They could work this out, If there was anything to work out. The friction/fight is between the boys and they are huge divas, letting their wives get torn to shreds by the press. I’m just not buying a cat-fight because neither women is that stupid.
Also: I believe Andrew is pushing this too.
This!!! @Catherine. I dont know how people keep blaming Charles or Carol for this. They have nothing to do with all this stories. And honestly I dont think is Kate or Meghan either. This is definitely between the brothers! Also I dont understand why people are expecting the palace to issue a denial or explanation. They never do. Its never been the norm to do so but the exception. This isnt coming from any of them as it makes them all look bad.
Only William can solve this by trying to make the Fabulous Four work and accepting the popularity and star appeal of the Sussexes.
But the problem is can he cope with his wife being made to look so unaccomplished, despite her very expensive public school education.
@princessk, From what is reported by press, Meghan and Harry both seem to work harder, and have a more genuine desire to connect with the public.
Harry has a lot of solid work to show for a man that is only 34. Sentebal and Invictus are pretty cool for such a young guy who spent a lot of his time in the military prior. Also cool.
Definelty think Harry is the more talented and harder working brother. Same for the wives. Meghan had ties to the U.N. before meeting Harry. She came in a pro at the public speaking.
Biggest problem is the next head of state is by birth. Charles, William, George.
William might be a lump, but he will be the boss. Hopefully he works at getting along so that there will be a strong four when he is head of state.
But because the brothers are not equal, if he wants to be petty or just wants to run the show his own way, he can do that.
It might be stupid for William to put his brother or sister in law down using the press. But he can. If not now, he can in the not distant future.
He will be the one controlling the duchy of Cornwall money. That’s where Harry and Meghan get their funding for nonprivate things now. If that will stay the same, William will control the purse in just a few years.
No, William will not control their funding when Charles becomes king. When Charles ascends, he will fund Harry and Meghan out of the Sovereign Grant. When and if William becomes king, then he could shut down royal funding for Harry and Meghan.
Given the fact that Philip is 96 and counting, I don’t see Charles kicking the bucket anytime soon. With the lease at Frogmore Cottage likely being similar to Andrew and Edward’s leases? William cannot break it.
Maybe during the walk to the church they could do some friendly chatting or something.
Also, I wish Kate and Carol had had Meghan and Doria over for tea (and maybe they did) since along with Sophie and Anne’s husbsnd, and Fergi, they’re the only ones who know what it’s really like in these positions.
She’s clearly pissing people off behind the scenes and she’s being knocked back down. Meghan is obviously type A and very driven. She’s no longer in charge of her own narrative, she gave up that right when she married a Snr royal. As hard as it is for white people to spot subtle racism, it’s hard for Americans to understand the Royal family & the mentality of the British people. From what I’ve read on here a lot of you havent got a scooby doo. Racism might be part of it but not by any means all of it. Doria appearing on Oprah or a US prog would be completely different to Carole being inteviewed by the Telegraph. If you can’t understand that then you don’t have enough knowledge of the RF/Uk to understand and comment on these issues. In the uk most people laughed at their engagement interview where they were promising to save the world. If Americans want an opinionated ‘princess’ then maybe they should pay for their own RF, you didn’t want ours 😉.
It’s not hard for white people to see racism they just don’t want to. Ignoring it by choice.
The identities of the reporters putting their names to the stories support your opinion @Rosie
Also agree the offices of the households and the unofficial links they maintain with trusted journalists are not understood by much of the public.
Only real question is what have the Sussexes done to anger higher up households?
It’s not just William. The Queen would not tolerate her grandsons destroying each other because of jealousy. They are the only future she is leaving behind.
Someone higher than these brothers is upset. Could be Charles trying to save himself.
Or it could be something Harry or Meghan are doing that has worried the Queen or Charles enough to move publicall.
The couple were seated way at the back at a remembrance concert last month. The Queen was present, seating was up to her.
She sat her cousins more prominently than Harry. They usually get fairly good seats at this occasion, but Harry is not normally pushed to the back row.
His rank, and more importantly, his military and combat service, normally put him toward the front for any event honoring war dead.
Meghan and Harry were seated in the second row at the Festival of Remembrance, with Princess Anne/Tim Laurence and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. This was entirely in keeping with protocol. The Queen’s cousins were in the row behind them. The Sussexes were entirely visible, not far in the back. Prince Andrew was in the front row with Camilla, to even up numbers in Prince Philip’s absence.
What would Charles be saving himself from? Unless there is some looming scandal, that makes no sense.
“ The Queen would not tolerate her grandsons destroying each other because of jealousy.”
Except she had no problem letting her sons’ marriages and PR wars get to the boiling point before intervening. She is infamous for her “ostrich-like” attitude when it comes to family matters.
@size,
At the Saturday evening concert Harry was at the back. Behind all sorts of cousins and barely visible.
Sunday evening at the Westminster service he was and Meghan were seated up close, with the family in order of precedence.
The seating at the Saturday evening concert was noted in the press for being unusual.
I thought it was possible they had a seat further back so that Meghan could get up if she wasn’t feeling well. Another possible reason.
@hershey,
On November 10th – Saturday evening – the royals attended the yearly Festival of Remembrance. I am looking at a photo of the royal box right now. Anyone can go to Getty images and look at the exact same thing.
In the front are are Will and Kate, The Queen and Charles, Andrew and Camilla.
Row 2 has Anne and Tim, Sophie and Edward, Harry and Meghan.
Row 3 has the Queen’s cousins the Kents and the Gloucesters.
Harry and Meghan are completely visible. Not hidden behind anyone or shunted aside in any way.
On Remembrance Sunday, at the Cenotaph Service, Harry laid a wreath, as did William and Charles. The Queen, Camilla and Kate appeared on one balcony, and Meghan appeared on another balcony with the wife of the German president.
At the Armistice Centenary Service at Westminster, Harry and Meghan sat directly behind the Queen and Charles in the Abbey.
At no point in any of these services were they hidden in the back row. They appeared with the family and were highly visible. I do not think there is any effort within the family to hide them or shunt them into secondary roles.
@suze, the coverage and story I saw for the Saturday night performance ran pictures that appeared to show Megan and Harry at the back.
Along with narrative that questioned why they were at the back.
If they were not actually at the back, at least one outlet wanted to make it appear they were in the back.
The press does do this sort of thing. Similar headlines showed up the same day about the balcony. Some outlets seemed to be trying to show Meghan as left out on the balcony as well.
If you saw pictures of them in good seats at that concert, I don’t doubt you.
The press in general seemed out to get her that weekend.
Rosie could you please explain the difference between an interview with Oprah and one with the Telegraph?
The Middleton siblings hace been abusing their media connections for over a decade now. In surprised Carole chose this very moment for a sit down showing her “empire”.
I’m not Rosie but I think it comes down to:
1) Doria and Meghan being new to the family which could read as them being fame hungry to people looking for reasons to hate them. I know people hate Carole, and that she’s worked behind the scenes with the press, but this is her first actual interview (rather than written and filmed statements) and it comes over a decade after Kate started dating Will. Also, the stated objective of the Carole article was the 30th anniversary of Party Pieces, even if it really wasn’t, whereas Doria’s interview would have mostly likely been centered on Meghan and the wedding which for some reason is considered less savory.
2) I really think “celebrity” is a dirty word to the British press. There was some shade about the fact that Meghan invited her friends from Hollywood to her wedding, and that she keeps up those connections. (That, I think, is going to be a constant drumbeat if they keep up their relationship to the SoHo House set.) Celebrities don’t come bigger than Oprah, and I remember there being some speculation that there was an access trade—Oprah gets to go to the weeding despite not being a close personal friend in exchange for an interview. It was the potential “Celebrity” of it all in relation to a family that claims they don’t want to be celebrities.
Agreed. As a WOC myself who has lived several years in Britain, i think Meghan’s main issue is more of cultural misunderstanding rather than racism.
I know everyone wants to believe there is a massive conspiracy involving the cambridge, charles, andy and the middletons but this just sounds like disgruntled employees. Notice how all the gossip is about events happening in thr run up to the wedding, so its ties neatly with the timeline of Robson book, and gives credibility to Lainey’s theory of gossip that didn’t make the cut for the book but will find its way in the newspapers eventually.
I think meghan’s direct approach has rubbed staff the wrong way and they are exacting revenge and her popularity right now means that every little remark against her is gold dust.
When i first moved to London, i had a hard time prioritizing requests from my colleagues as everything was prefaced by “i’m terribly sorry to bother you, would you awfully mind..” The level of politeness, and frankly roundabout way of giving instructions was just something i wasn’t used to, and i was only working in a bank, i assume among the aristocracy it was be even worst.
Also i think Meghan didn’t realise that the courtiers dont work for her but both her and the courtiers work for the RF, and that their allegiance will always be towards the leader of the pack and not to her.
And let’s be honest, a lot of western Europeans look down on Americans, i don’t understand why, but i see it time and time again.
Exactly.
Something I’m struck by in these stories is people saying Meghan is rude and difficult but never specifying exactly what she’s doing to give that impression. It does seem like a cultural clash, like the outrage over her texting the staff which seems innocuous to Americans.
Toubati is a fellow woman of colour. I don’t like this.
A very insightful comment. I’ve always thought her main problems were being American (perceived to be brash and demanding and not understanding the RF norms), divorced (shades of Wallis), and an actress (translation: phony and manipulating). However, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. A direct approach and being demanding would most likely be interpreted as being entitled or a diva to the staff. Also, I believe a lot of people, and possibly staff, don’t believe this marriage will last, so why go all out for someone who may only be there temporarily.
Spot on MrsBump & Lexy. I, like a lot of Brits like the Royals to shine at state and family occasions and then we like them to keep fairly quiet and get on with their charitable work. They’re expensive but like an incredibly precious set of first editions, not terribly practical but there’s a wonderful connection to the past. Ok maybe not the best analogy but it’s hard to explain the heart. I don’t want to keep seeing them on the front page preaching reminding me how expensive they are. I know lots of people resent them but I feel if it wasn’t them at the top of the tree then someone will always want power and at least with the RF we have some continuity. Can you imagine if Cherie Blair had been First Lady!!
Anyway it’s the celeb bit that’s the problem. Not just Meghan, but Fergie too and the 200 best friend of Jack and Eugenie who all seemed to have been introduced by Fergie.
Kate Moss 😱. Harry seems to have dumped a lot of his older friends. It seems a bit strange to me that their weekend place is on the Soho House estate and they are becoming good friends with The Clooneys.
Yes! And royal aids have been famous throughout history for this. Even people going as far as saying that the royal family is really down to earth and welcoming but is their aids who actually are quite snobbish to outsiders. I can see them being really disgruntled at having to take orders from Meghan and leaking all this stories to show her her place. And lets be honest, it’s not hard for the aids to leak stories behind the royal’s back. Even the queen has been subjected to this to bend her will in her early years of being queen and her being really pissed off about it when finding out. The aids are all about the crown and the firm not the actual person in that position.
I believe it was during CNN’s wedding coverage, but not positive. One commentator mentioned that Meghan toured the church the day before the wedding and determined that there were not enough flowers. Her request for more fresh flowers was filled before the ceremony.
So what? That kind of detail makes her like every other bride on the planet.
Her wedding was being paid for by her father in law, so in that sense it does make her look a little diva-ish? Perhaps?
I am a loud mouth New Yorker who would feel awkward asking for more pricey flowers if someone else was bankrolling it,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Prince Andrew the Queen’s favorite? Also, aren’t Beatrice and Eugenie quite highly favored? I know people love to trash the Middletons, but I always bought the story that it was the two sisters being mean and classist to Kate more than Kate being mean to them.
I wonder if this is all from the York camp. Andrew apparently thought his daughters deserved more for being blood princesses. Meghan’s pregnancy upstaged the wedding (not her fault). Beatrice’s new man left his wife or partner for her, and Andrew was making far more pro Saudi comments than usual right after Khashoggi’s murder. It’s very telling, in my opinion that the worst of this started after the wedding and when the Yorks were in danger of bad press.
Maybe Meg is a diva, but one can’t deny that there is also a lot of dog whistle racism in these reports too. My theory is its a combination of the Yorks and some courtiers and possibly William. Fergie and Diana both talked about how the courtiers like to cut them down.
Victoria hasn’t been involved with the spread of these rumors. She hasn’t written any article claiming any source told her such and such about Meghan.
Camilla Tominely is the one who was involved with this. She was also the person who wrote the article tying Meghan and the beautiful women of the Hubb to terrorist. Rebecca English is at the center of this and she’s a Cambridge connect. She wrote the exclusive on Kate’s “save british kids” campaign two days before Meghan’s cookbook dropped.
She has commented on the kate crying story in the last 24hrs, on the record.
Just about every writer with established close ties to senior royals has put out a story, tweet or comment about Meghan and Harry this week. All of them on record.
@ Hershey… exactly. I tried explaining this Friday about the royal courtiers & the timing after Prince Charles biography. Andrew would have no idea what was going in Kensington Palace, as it’s not his house. I’m aware of the possibility of royal courtiers gossipping but I doubt it. If the leaks weren’t so disparaging to both Prince William & Prince Harry, I’d agree Kensington Palace had something to do with it. You really have to look at who benefits from the two brothers fighting. And it’s interesting about the royal reporters. These leaks must be true or have some truth to it for them to run these stories. The question is why now? What happened?
And Buckingham Palace, not Kensington, issued the denial saying it didn’t happen. Meaning the Queen.
I’d want to cover up that mustiness, too. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to want a decent scent on your wedding day. Mildew isn’t very bridal. She probably asked, they said no and offered an alternative, she agreed on the compromise. No big deal.
This smacks of the Keen Kamp. Maybe some Charles and Andrew.
Have been in that chapel. It does have that unique older building smell.
It is not mildew odor, and is what most buildings more than a couple of hundred years smell like.
On the actual day, the flowers and candles probably were what guests would smell.
If it is true she asked for air freshener to be sprayed, that is a bit rude. The venue was not her home, nor was she the person paying for it.
Most brides can ask for what they want when they or their families are hosting the wedding.
Meghan did not host her wedding. She was a guest of the Queen.
I have to agree with you.
If you’re paying for your wedding you get to call the shots, when your father in law is paying for if..then in the court of public opinion, it does come across as diva-ish.
I wonder if she paid for the dress, but the fact that it wasn’t officially mentioned makes me think that charles paid for that too. Given that so much has been made her success as an actress and her independent wealth, its a little surprising.
I don’t think much of Kate but i can appreciate that the middletons did the right thing by buying her dress. It was the least they could do.
I feel like you (hershey) and MrsBump are just making a lot of assumptions though. How do you know a) Meghan wasn’t told by Charles that she can add any extras she wants? …or b) maybe Harry demanded the additional flowers/scent …or c) there wasn’t some cushion funds in the wedding budget for exactly these types of last minute issues/additions like most wedding budgets have …or any other number of possibilities. Why are you automatically assigning the worst characteristics to Meghan when no one during her entire Suits run described her as demanding or bossy or anything? Why doesn’t Meghan get the benefit of the doubt? Why is every worst piece of gossip/rumor/innuendo being believed without one shred of real evidence?
MrsBump – are you implying that Meghan didn’t pay for her own dress? My recollection is the description of who paid for Kate’s dress and who paid for Meghan’s dress was described in exactly the same terms prior to each of the weddings. Except, I suppose that Meghan paid for her own dress, since she had earned her own money…whereas Kate’s parents had to pay for hers since she never held down a real job.
RoyalWatcher – actually the communication regarding the dress was very different. For kate’s dress it was said black on white, that her parents paid for it. For meghan, i may have missed it, but that part of the story was simply omitted, which leads to believe that the whole thing was bankrolled by Charles. Im very happy to be proved wrong, its nothing more than an observation from my side.
@atroyalwatcher,
Not making any assumptions about Meghan or anyone else or what has really happened.
Am saying that pretty much every credible royal reporter put out a wave of stories this week and put their names to them.
Which means the stories are coming from a royal household/s. Doesnt mean the stories are true.
What it means is that someone higher up the pecking order is unhappy in some way by Meghan and Harry.
Did not say Meghan has done anything wrong. Am saying someone higher up the royal household is looking to put her down. No idea why. But her husband is not going to be king.
And if she asked for air freshener to be sprayed in the Queens chapel, I do think it was rude. She was the Queens guest.
Have been in that chapel, it does not smell bad. It smells like ancient wood and beeswax
Meghan is a supposed millionaire, Harry has a fat inheritance – but it was said the wedding was paid for by the Queen and Charles. There was no statement put out that she paid for her own dress. Lol that you think parents buying a custom couture gown for their daughter is a “dig” at Kate because she didn’t work. Big deal. At least they contributed and had her diamond earrings made as well. No heirlooms in the family from Megan’s side but she thinks she’s better than the “help”.
@letitrainoverme,
Seriously, your comments about the Middletons sound a bit naive. Maybe you should do a little research on their finances at the time of KM’s marriage, or review the articles about their manor mortgage. More fun, jog your memory on the pretentiousness of their family crest. And, let’s not forget the Midds’ faithful benefactor, Uncle G, who barely rated an invite to the wedding. Regarding “the help”, if you have no personal experience with the staff or Meghan, then I’m assuming your low opinion of her is based on the same rumors and gossip we’ve all been reading in the press.
@olenna – i actually found the middleton family crest beyond boring, i certainly wouldn’t have called it extravagant. It was what, a bunch of acorns and ski slopes. As for uncle Gary, let’s be honest, it was very scandalous back then but after the Markle family drama involving the poor bride’s very own father, middleton gossip just seems quaint in comparison. In fact i feel like their biggest sin is just how dull they are.
Racism, sexism and haterism is alive and well over there in Britain.
A fair mix of xenophobia in there too.
like most places in the world unfortunately.
Meghan and Harry have some sort of big problem. These stories did not come from hacks.
Perhaps the royal family itself is not into modern independent wives? Possibly some in senior households or offices are racist?
Maybe Charles is trying to shut down his young, more popular son?
Maybe this newly married couple have been too demanding?
Whatever the problem really is, it is coming from a more senior royals household.
Exactly.
Charles has gotten too much good PR from stepping in at the wedding to step on Harry and Meghan now. The anti-Meghan articles don’t come from his camp. Andrew, W&K, and Carole are the ones who benefit here.
This new barrage of stories has derailed the happy Wales family theme that Charles had in the media for his birthday. There is no way he would want that destroyed mere days later. Someone else is behind most of this.
Folks are putting a LOT of stock in royal reporters who have been wrong NUMEROUS times about this couple. How many “exclusives” have they published that turned out to be so far off the mark? A lot.
Not to speak overly authoritatively but it’s obvious that this campaign came from the Cambridgeshire.
Firstly they have motive—competing for popularity. The modern monarchy is sustained on popularity. Not just the ceremonial role but the very real cash that comes with the Queen’s and POWs duchies along with the crown estate. This publically financed fabulous wealth would not survive an unpopular monarchy.
Secondly, please remember that what is being reported is the contents of very private conversations. Conversations that I can’t imagine any courtier being present to hear. For example, conflict at Amer Hall, Kate telling off Meghan, the Queen putting Harry in his place. All these conversations would be royal to Royal and if told to a trusted courtier would be very easy to trace.
I think the backbone of these stories are real. I think that Meghan had conflict with Kate and whether for jealousy, dislike or suspicion, Kate tried to lay a restraining hand on Meghan’s plans. If Meghan chose an offered tiara that was subsequently nixed without good reason, it probably pissed of Harry. It is a classic passive aggressive move used in office politics.
Despite the disagreements, the cambridges did not move until the end of the royal tour and the cookbook. That tour must have been an eye opener to the entire royal family. Harry and Meghan were treated akin to Monarchs in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. Even in Australia, they pulled crowds way beyond anything the Cambridgeshire ever did.
It may have come from the Cambridges.
The Queen is 92. Charles is 70 and may or may not have inherited his parents longevity.
So if it came from the Cambridges, it is still a real problem for Harry and Meghan.
The Cambridges may well be slacking, lazy too over involved with their children etc. I dont know but even if they are all those things, guess What?
They are two elderly heartbeats away from being King and Queen.
The British might decide they are lazy and decide to referendum their butts out of public life.
But until that happens, they will be in charge when they get to the throne. Which could be years down the road or it could be much sooner.
Meghan might be paying no attention and keeping her head up high and smiling her way above this but she shouldn’t be.
Unless Wills and his kids meet with tragedy, she is not above it. If this is coming from her in any way, she should reevaluate her husband’s position. Because this institution still has positions.
Anne works very hard for the royal family. But she is still behind her brother in position. This is an archaic organization where hard work and popularity do not carry the day entirely.
*slow clap*
I agree with all of this. Especially the very last part. The Royal Tour and Meghan’s clear success with the book was an eye opener to the Cambridge’s. They command a world stage that the Cambridge’s don’t. Attribute it to their charm, Meghan’s background, their work ethic or just their likability in general but it is there and everyone sees it. For all this talk about them being the future of the monarch, they know popularity is the controller in all of that. Charles will be King but his sons are more popular and thus receive more attention and so forth. He counters it by working hard. The Queen and Charles are used to the younger Royals having the stage by now and I don’t think either are threatened by Meghan but know to use her and Harry to their benefit.
William and Kate haven’t learned that lesson and so this lash out is them taking the possibility of a more popular, similar aged couple out shinning them terribly and trying to dim that. A mistake Charles made many moons ago with Diana and has yet to recover.
Bingo @Leyton, I think that’s it in a nutshell.
I’m reminded of JFK’s famous quote at a news conference in France: “I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris…” He was thrilled at her reception. Harry gets that Meghan’s success doesn’t diminish him; Charles (now) knows how their good PR can reflect back on him. So far W&K see only a threat, and it’ll be a losing game for them as well.
The Queen knew what she was doing when she appointed Harry Youth Ambassador to the Commonwealth. This role, as we saw from the Australian tour , will provide the Sussexes with a lot of international and colourful exposure, which will only further increase their popularity. The Cambridges will be the ones visiting northern European countries and elsewhere but those places will not provide the great photo opportunities one gets from the Commonwealth. I also predict that as soon as Trump goes, or maybe before, Harry and Meghan will tour the USA, and that will get a mega reception over there.
You know how HGTV contestants are prompted to be more high maintenance than they are IRL? I feel like that’s what’s happening with Meg. Suddenly wedding staff were every where asking her opinion on every minute detail, and sometimes she was probably like “sure that sounds nice,” and then another staffer was like “no can do,” because that happens with complicated events. And Meg probably was way distracted by family drama and the weight of her impending historical status…but sure the place is a bit musty, do what you think is best.
People have put forth very plausible suggestions for the leakers. Of all the people with the most on the line, Andrew pushing the Epstein/child sex trafficking off the pages is it. But does he have this pull any more, to get these stories and then to get people to listen and care?
I keep seeing William pushing this stuff hardest. He and his wife are the ones who have been found wanting. Neither he nor his wife has bothered to work much until Meghan’s official arrival lit a fire under their butts.
The reporters writing these stories this week all have real and credible ties to royal households. I don’t think Andrew gets stuff published that will hurt a more senior royal.
He gets whining and complaints published. But he does not have the pull to trash and harm those more senior.
Even if he is the favorite son, the Queen puts the monarchy first. She is not going to allow the crown to harmed by Andrew.
Charles could be king any day at any time. He could choose to put out stories about his sons. It’s a household more senior than Harry. If it is Williams, he likely had permission from Charles.
Charles will likely be around for a while. This group of reporters will not want to lose access to his office.
Andrew, the Cambridges, and Carole are the ones who gain from these negative stories. No surprise.
The Queen had Buckingham Palace issue the denial. Not the W&K controlled Kensington Palace.
That’s very telling that the Queen stepped in. She normally lets the family drama play out without getting involved.
The Queen only steps in when real damage is being done.
Real damage only happens when real people are doing interviews or having their households leak to credible reporters.
Credible reporters? Right. These so-called reporters are only as good as the stories they create or the juiciness of the information fed to them by people with questionable agendas and are too cowardly to be quoted. For the public, these so-called leaks serve no purpose but to feed their dislike of Meghan. They still have to pay taxes, support the BRF, and eat crow every time one of the royals they do like does something stupid or financially irresponsible. For the press, they’re making money and their reporters are being elevated for being credible while writing about insignificant sh*t that has no impact on the average person’s financial or personal well-being. So, credible? It’s a matter of opinion.
The Queen steps in when the BS in the tabloids reaches new heights, as they’ve done with this and all the lies. No “credible” reporters among the royal reporters. HM’s shown she’s on the Meghan side of the equation.
How do these hit pieces help Kate? She looks good because she tows the royal line? She looks weak as a future queen and when William ascends to the throne the courtiers will run Buckingham Palace not the Cambridges.
I don’t think Kate is particularly happy about all this because it is going to backfire on her spectacularly. It is only going to increase the comparisons between the two women. The older Brexit loving section of the UK may adore Kate, but the younger and more diverse and liberal sections will look at all this with much more open eyed scrutiny. I cannot see William or Kate going anywhere near Grenfell or Brixton any time soon after this public demonisation of Meghan.
I am a bit perplexed. If Charles is going to skinny down the working royal core, he only has TWO kids (and the spouses) to work with in that generation. The Queen not only has her four kids (and Sophie/Camilla) working; she still has 4 cousins working (Duke & Duchess of Glouchester, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra). I know nobody on the gossip sites cares about them, but they are out there all the time repping the Q. I presume when the Q passes, those cousins will also retire (or will have passed, RIP). So let’s say it’s ten years from now; Charles will be 80, and he is going to need all available hooves on deck. If — and I DO mean IF — Meghan is tough on staff, big fecking whoop in the long haul. Charles needs Megs (and Will and Kate and Harry) if the monarchy is going to mean anything to the people.I thought that is what those Grandpa Wales pix were all about.
So beyond the ridiculous clickbaity bs about scented candles, I am just not sure how this anti-meghan stuff helps Charles at all. If it’s Cambridge-y, I think it shows them in a petty light. So I am perplexed about who this helps other than the tabs and future royal writers. . . .
It doesn’t help anyone in the royal family.
Charles will need all hands on deck.
If there is conflict or drama going on between his sons or with one of the wives, Charles should be invested in shutting it down.
He’s not always the brightest guy and his own popularity matters too him. He’s probably selfish enough to be causing this if he feels overshadowed.
Or it may be that Meghan and Harry are behaving in a way that has Charles or the Queen concerned.
If the couple believe they can run their own show, and Charles isn’t happy with that show, he can talk to them.
If they are not listening to how more senior households want to see things done, well this is what happens.
Sophie and Edward behaved badly, did things their own way, and when they angered Charles and the Queen, the royal reporters slammed them.
And then they got in line. Edward quit his ridiculous tv adventures and Sophie was smart enough to listen and learn from the Queen.
The royal family need the Sussexes full stop. The Queen knows it, Charles knows it but stubborn minded William just can’t accept that it is for his own good too in the long term.
Don’t the press just like ****stirring? The vast majority of this is just that, solely because H&M are moving to Windsor. Personally I don’t blame them. The majority of people in the country place no credence on these stories, even if they have bothered to read them. If I were Meghan I wouldn’t want to live next door to someone who wore a sambo brooch.
With the absolute onslaught of these stories and the level of details, I am starting to wonder if there is a grain of truth involved here. The lack of response from the palace is concerning. I like Meghan and as a fellow American, I think that the differences between the Brits way of life and the American way of life is really showing here and rubbing these old establishment types the wrong way. She may feel like a fish out of water at this point, pressure from all sides. There is really NO WAY that all the papers and tabloids would publish this much stuff and risk getting into a legal mess with the palace if it wasn’t at least partly legit, even a tiny bit. There are even articles about the now desperate search for the source of the leak. Not good.
The palace do not often respond to stories in the press. And if they did some folks would say “well they would say that wouldn’t they?”
That is true when the stories are written by reporters with little or no access to royal communications staff.
Stories this week came from those with real times to PR staff that work for royal family members.
Doesn’t mean the story is fair or fully truthful. But it came from a royal source. Likely with royal permission.
The royal family doesn’t like to respond to the tabloids because it often opens the door for more spinning of stories, more demands to verify or deny other articles, and so forth. Buckingham Palace (not Kensington) did step in to deny the Kate vs Meghan vs staff fight, which is unusual.
The palace doesn’t really comment on stuff like this. This speaks less to it being true but more to someone trying to clearly push a narrative here and it being a Royal or someone from the inside. I don’t doubt some of this stuff happened but it wasn’t news worthy when it happened but now a narrative needs to be pushed so they are stringing this stuff together to make the “Meghan is the Bossy Bitch who doesn’t know her place” narrative.
Something as irrelevant as “Meghan ask for a specific scent in the church” turns into “MEGHAN THINKS THE QUEENS CHURCH IS MUSTY AND SHES TOO GOOD FOR IT!”.
Something like Kate cries at Charlotte’e dress fitting, with no context as into why she cried, turns into “MEAN GIRL MEGHAN MADE KATE CRY AT CHARLOTTES DRESS FITTING”
Everything is being exaggerated and sensationalized to the 10th degree here. Tomorrow we’ll hear that Meghan asked for a specific brand of tea and it will be “MEGHAN THREW AWAY KATES FAVORITE BRITISH MADE TEA AND REPLACED IT WITH HER OWN AMERICAN BRAND! SHE DOESNT SUPPORT THE UK ECONOMY!”
That, I am afraid, is the British press for you. Generally speaking I despise a lot of what is written and I am a Brit.
“There is really NO WAY that all the papers and tabloids would publish this much stuff and risk getting into a legal mess with the palace if it wasn’t at least partly legit”.
Well, you certainly have the right of it–it’s stuff, molehills turned in mountains by the press and people eager to confirm their negative opinions of Meghan (and Harry, for his poor choice of a wife, of course). What she may or may not have said to any one of the royals or palace staff is of no consequence to the public, but if it can be spun into a character assassination piece with an attention-grabbing headline (which is as far of some of her detractors get), who cares where it came from or why? This is the stuff of schadenfreude and tabloid clicks. Why worry about truth or consequences?
The only real reason it matters to Meghan and Harry is that these stories were likely leaked by another royals office.
Even if the stories are lies, no one wants their family or in laws trashing them, either directly or by staff.
The fact that these Royal reporters, behind the articles, don’t care about the “consequences” to these stories, tells me there is a grain of truth. Think about it.. if everything the reporters are writing is false, the Palace would push back on them (not the tabloids) and there *would* be consequences like loss of access etc. Just my opinion.
I disagree with this: “What she may or may not have said to any one of the royals or palace staff is of no consequence to the public.”
We’ve heard how Will and Harry treat staff, what’s the difference here?
@letitrainoverme, you really did miss my point, because hearing about what the princes’ do has nothing to do with the fact that what any one of these royals says or does to another (or their staff) has absolutely no personal impact on anyone but them. Good behavior, bad behavior, the Brits still have to pay for this crew. So, if the dysfunctional BRF wants to show the world how good they are at f*cking up family relationships then, by all means, keep up the so-called leaks. Selling stories and making MM haters very happy is apparently what it’s all about for the press. Personally, I don’t care if the rumors or gossip said about any of them is true. It won’t change my opinion that Meghan doesn’t deserve the constant racist and classicist BS the press is producing.
There are two sides to every story. On the one hand, Meghan will not be welcomed into the old, stuffy, boring British establishment **just** because of who she is. On the other hand, her and Harry have sprinted out of the gate. I feel like she’s tying to prove her worth by displaying an incredible work ethic and coming up with innovative ideas. But no one expects the spouse to the sixth-in-line to reinvent the monarchy. In fact, they will resent her for it. If I were her, I would tread lightly.
Quite right, it is like in any new job where sensible people take thing slowly and see how the land lies rather than trying to reorganise things straight away.
Yes, this is true of any job, and especially royalty. There is deference, that is a fact.
It’s quite funny that people think actually doing some work equates to “reinventing the monarchy”. In the grand scheme of things, Meghan is not doing anything that threatens the stability of the monarchy. What she IS doing (with no fault on her part) is making certain royals look bad, and ones that rank above her at that.
+1 Beach Dreams!! In fact, Meghan’s pace is more similar to past royal married-ins and Kate’s pace was/is the outlier.
It is very apparent Meghan works hard and puts a lot of effort into what she does. She didnt get her suits part sitting on her a**.
But William will be Monarch after he waits his turn behind two people both past retirement age.
If she wants a happy place in that family, angering her brother in law or his wife is unwise.
No matter how lazy or bad they might be. She will never be in charge of the direction the monarchy. That is for the Queen, Charles and William.
Working hard in a way that has the blessing of those in direct line is great. Anne and Sophie work hard. If she is pulling her weight in a direction those senior to her do not like, she is creating problems for herself.
That’s not modern or fair. And it is not how things happen in America. But she is not in America.
@beach dreams you’re fair, but naive. I agree with Knowitall. If you don’t think Meghan, a black woman with ambition, brains, and a sense of social justice is a “threat” to the stability of the monarchy, then you don’t understand what she married into. It’s not fair, but no one forced her. And it’s not just about race, though race is a factor. The same thing happened to Diana.
@hershey: Again, I fail to see what Meghan is doing that’s so revolutionary to the point that it’s supposedly upsetting the balance of who’s in charge. It’s strange that some people in this post assume that she’s trying to pull rank or be ‘radical’. What exactly has she done as a royal to indicate this? Harry himself already maintains his own charities and projects so what exactly is *Meghan* doing so differently to be so disruptive?
Anne has outworked Charles before and people had no criticism. Just praise for being hardworking, along with raised eyebrows at how poorly the younger royals measured up with their own numbers. The only “problems” I’m seeing with Meghan is that she exceeded the expectations of how well-received she would be during the tour and she carried out a successful project without involving the media.
In the end, it’s egos that are being hurt, rather than the supposedly delicate balance of order and ranking. People have become used to the Cambridges making announcements about what they plan to do with little to no follow-up. They’re used to the pair constantly “learning” and little else. That is entirely William and Kate’s problem to deal with. As another poster noted, their tendencies are the outlier, not the standard.
@holisticthinker: Kindly refrain from the condescension and do not assume what I think and know about the monarchy.
@beachdreams,
I have no way of knowing if she has done anything wrong or different.
All that is obvious is that someone higher up is using credible royal press contacts to damage her.
No idea why. But because she and Harry will always have a boss in the royal family, they should figure out what is going on. And take steps to get the problem worked out if possible.
Anne and Sophie have worked a lot but they don’t get the press attention that Meghan does. That’s the difference here. Because if the media really showcased all of Anne’s work then people might want her to be Queen after her mum. But with Harry being the most popular royal at the moment and Meghan climbing up the ranks of popularity quickly, there are some bruised egos. Whether they reside at Clarence House or KP is the question. And the media profits either way.
@Nic yes, there are bruised egos for sure, something bad behind the scenes. The question is what. I don’t think William would design a smear campaign because he suffered too much from what happened to his mother. But Meg’s cookbook launch around the same time as Kate’s first major initiative since the marriage was likely perceived as an overreach on Meghan’s part. Whether we like it or not, reaching out to the Muslim community on top of that probably ruffled some feathers. Remember, we are dealing with an incredibly archaic institution. I’m sure she was gently advised to scale back. I’m also fairly certain there is some fallout from the timing of the pregnancy announcement and the success of the tour.
Meghan working is what she’s supposed to do. It is the 7+ years of Kate doing less than the bare minimum that is the strange part of this equation.
W&K do not want to work harder, so they don’t want Meghan outshining them.
Andrew wanted his daughters to be working royals, unneeded and even less so with Meghan working hard.
Charles gains from a hard-working DIL who praises him.
Easy to see who benefits from all the lies being published in the last two weeks.
@beach dreams, Anne’s work ethic is praised but if you look at it closely, it is completely vanilla i.e. more of the same patronages accepted by the establishment. Meghan’s innovative ideas combined with her post-wedding popularity and pregnancy have eclipsed everyone. Also, has anyone considered that Philip is the one behind all this? He’s done it before. I think it’s time for Harry to put out a statement. He’s not the brightest, unfortunately. He doesn’t seem to be able to protect Meghan nor provide her wise counsel.
@knowitall…I am not a fan of Anne but she has just been on a tour of Chile, with her husband which has not got an ounce of publicity, it has coincided with this dreadful attack on Meghan but it still would never get any press coverage. I saw some pictures of the trip which I felt would have made interesting news stories. Andrew has also been in Australia at the same time.
Is it possible they don’t like her because she is an American?!? I have noticed now That I live in Canada, certain sayings or phrases are offputting to non Americans, when Americans don’t consider these sayings rude. Also, our tone is more blunt and louder than Canadians/Brits. It can be viewed as embarassing when there are millions of Americans who don’t think so. This coupled with the fact of her race, is possibly where this is coming from. Cultural differences that people take offense to unintentional offenses?
The thing I find disturbing is most of these stories aren’t being shut down, they grow with each day. Someone around her hopes it doesn’t last.
I think her being American may be causing some confusion.
In America, no one Queen until they die. I think she may not understand that her husband’s place is not the same as the Queens or Charles or Williams.
Working hard or being modern might make her or her husband popular. It will never make them the bosses at the top of the pile.
In America, personal assistants are sometimes treated terribly, and it doesn’t seem to hurt the celebrity or politician they work for. It should but often doesn’t.
The British perhaps treat staff terribly too.
No idea what exactly the real problem is. But Harry and Meghan have one they need to figure out.
If they have made a lazier senior royal cranky, they really should mend the fence. Because they are junior. Unlike in America, hard work doesn’t move you from junior to senior.
Hershey, I agree with you. Harry and Meghan should be diplomatic in handling this issue and find out what went wrong and why there is an obvious campaign against Meghan from powerful people within the palace. Theres an African proverb that says that ‘If it means calling a mad man endearing names to get what you want, do it’. Meghan has much more to lose if the powerful courtiers in the palace keep leaking such damaging information because Harry is a prince and he would always be protected. Meghan is hardworking, beautiful, savvy and all, but it would do her a whole lot of good if she humbly seeks to know what must have gone wrong to prompt this smear campaign. no one here knows what she may or may not have done behind the scenes to draw any conclusions. But she really needs to be very tactful and very wise in her dealings with the royal family.
The texting at 5am part really gets me. That’s bad even for an American.
Conflating two things. It was never stated she texted people at 5am, even if you want to pretend all these lies are gospel. 1) she gets up at 5am and 2) she sends texts or emails to staff with new ideas throughout the day. Two different things.
I work for a high profile individual. I promise you, in this career field your boss can text you whenever the hell they want, day or night, even when you’re on vacation –Toubati knows this or she wouldn’t have agreed to come on board 6 months before the wedding. If you’re not willing to do it, someone else will and there are 50 people waiting to take your job when you go. It comes with the territory but there are a lot of perks, too. You are basically at that person’s mercy. That said, I have no idea how these things work in Britain. The culture of work is more reasonable in Europe, fewer hours and “work smarter not harder” attitude. I’d be shocked if Toubati was behind these leaks. In this field, loyalty is everything.
I think palace rules and norms are different. Even if she is not texting at 5, but stacking peoples inboxes before they come in, I could see this as being seen as aggressive to the royal staffers, since it’s probably outside the norm. I had a boss do this once to me, and it was demoralizing to come in every day with a stack of items without acknowledgement that a lot of these tasks were on-going, and he should not need a daily update.
Brits and Americans have different ways of speaking with Brits being indirect so they are all sorts of ways for this to be nothing be good intentions on Meghan’s part but a big misunderstanding. But Meghan needs to learn this kind of thing because it will cause her issues going forward if she does not.
No one on this site knows Meghan one on one or what she is like behind the scenes and no one knows what is really happening. I know that Diana, Fergie, Kate and even Sophie suffered torrents of negative press in their hey days just like Meghan is suffering now. I remember an article Tom Sykes of the Daily Beast wrote before the wedding, predicting that if the palace machinery sees her as Diana 2.0, a disruptor, they will be ruthless with her. Its not even up to a year and his predictions are already coming true.
Like Kaiser said, something is definitely going on behind the scenes and there is a coordinated gang up against Meghan from senior courtiers. They want to cut her down to size for reasons no one knows because no one here has first hand info. Some of the leaks are coming from BP, CH and KP and it definitely indicates a high wire campaign against her. The air freshener story possibly came from BP and KP. The Mail on Sunday reports that Harry is investigating where the leaks are coming from. If its true, the fact that this info also leaked to MoS that he is investigating, shows that the campaign against Meghan is even beyond him. Its sad.
Everything you said is true. When people marry in, if they don’t toe the line the way senior royals and households want, this is what happens. The households use the press to take the newcomer down.
No idea if those behind these stories are being unfair or vicious.
They may well be unfair. But if Meghan wants to succeed in this situation, she should look to those that have married in and thrived.
And sorry to say it, but reality is Willam will be her boss. She needs to get along at least minimally with him and his wife. They, because of birth, will always be above her.
I’m not advocating a sexist organization where birth alone gets the top job. But unless the brits wish to change this, it is what it is.
The Queen is the one who had the denial issued about this. Not the W&K-controlled Kensington Palace. That should tell people something.
The Queen only issues a denial when actual damage is taking place.
Someone is using credible royal press contacts to leak damaging information about Meghan and Harry.
No way of knowing why or if the leaks are even true.
But the fact a denial came from Buckingham Palace means that infighting is actually taking place and being leaked to credible outlets.
The Queen issues denials when the lies are as deep as the Marianas Trench. There are no “credible outlets” among royal hacks.
Its interesting that the denial was only issued when Kate was dragged into it for seemingly having told Meghan off.
Where was the Queen during the past 2 weeks of character assassination? She could easily have killed the tiara story, unless it was true.
hmmmm, many of the online sources are saying the denial was issued by KP?
Started here in May
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2018051348534/meghan-markle-hugs-kensington-palace-staff/
To this…
Somethings not right in Denmark.
What the poor Danes have suffered from misinterpretation due to Shakespeare over the years….
I’m English and I call BS on any of this happening at all, and even if it did in a minute version of what’s been “reported” I doubt it was a massive deal! When Kate and William we’re engaged the press loved to bitch about Kate, “Waity Katie” etc, and now they’ve turned on Meghan, personally I think she comes across as being lovely, friendly, but maybe I’m gullible. I read the comments on the Daily Fail website on articles about her and I want to cringe at how people believe what they read!
All these things supposedly happened prior to the Australian trip, some many months ago. So interesting to hear all of this now. Not knowing if this is all true or false but I do know that she can’t be the cause of everything. It is all written as if the black woman is evil and all the white people are good. Like most things, there is a third side but we will never hear it. And yes, I do believe that K and W have something to do with some of this.
Yes, very interesting why its is coming out now. Also timed to come out when Harry was in Zambia, very nasty. I think that Meghan had plans to do something or announce something and Kensington Palace just cannot deal with anymore ‘Duchess of Success’ stories, they are as I predicted trying to rein her in because she is totally overshadowing the Cambridges. But the irony is that all of this is going to make Meghan’s profile even bigger, the media cannot wait for her next public appearance.
Harry has a solo evening engagement on December 6th, which I think Meghan was originally going to attend. I hope that they both make a public appearance soon, or better still Meghan should attend a solo engagement before the end of the year to tell the world that ‘I am still here and I am holding up’…poor girl.
Question- what is the b_____d word blanked out in the story of Kate scolding Meg about how Meg talked to her staff?
The timing of the Cqrole in depth profile in Telegraph seems strange. It’s ostensibly to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Party Pieces (why that should merit a major article is beyond me). But in the article Carole is portrayed as a reticent interview subject who is nervous and doesn’t make eye contact with her interviewer. Who is very self conscious about describing her background and take pains to make herself sound like an ordinary lady who doesn’t live in a mansion and frequent Mustique. And it is prominently noted that Kate (sorry, ‘Catherine’) texted her to wish her luck.
So whose idea was this to have a big story burnishing Carole’s life story and the legend of the Middleton family and Kate’s wonderful cozy happy relatives at this time?
Maybe they are reaching the bottom of the barrel with this scent of the chapel story. And I can’t slag Meg off for wanting more flowers when Kate brought inside slews of actual trees to decorate Westminster Abbey and everyone thought that was great.
Isn’t it odd though? For an interview celebrating a milestone anniversary of a business, you’d think that the interviewee would talk more about the company, or have people who’ve worked for/with the company add their input. Something with actual substance about the topic, right? Even the interviewer seemed flummoxed by the situation.
The word I believe refers to male genitalia, but Meghan did not use the word but they are describing how the PA felt when she was berated by Meghan, that choice of word must have been used by a palace insider and could identify some of the people leaking stories.
Why do people always forget that there are POC in the Royal family apart from Meghan? I have never heard anything against Maori Gary Lewis in the press from the courtiers and the family members over his race. A part of this is about her biracial background, but there’s something else to these leaks. Every single Royal Reporter with connections to the Royal Household writing these articles? Something is up. It can’t all be false. They wouldn’t risk their future work on rumours.
Yes it can all be false. The royal tabloid writers know that the royals traditionally do not respond to any of their lies. They’re trying to goad Harry into writing another statement for them to mock. They didn’t expect a denial to come from the Queen, but it did.
There seems to be some confusion over whether Kensington Palace or Buckingham Palace denied, so I’m not sure the Queen did issue a denial.
“Last night, a Kensington Palace spokesman said of the row claims: “This never happened.”” – https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1052841/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-row-fued-kensington-palace
The Sun (the originator of the story?) also cites KP: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/7870884/furious-kate-middleton-meghan-markle/
Because none of the other POC members are married to someone that high up in the pecking order and the open history of racism, particularly with Prince Phillip, in the firm. And as a Black woman, there is a lot of anti-Blackness, even among other POC at times.
Yes Div. Some of this is anti-Blackness. It’s own special thing.
I really feel bad for meg-imagine how she feels-but news of the separate staff and moving away came out before these articles ran so maybe they saw this coming? Still though this feels so cruel right? Admittedly i didnt follow royal news as much as i do now but was it ever this mean with kate?
No wonder theyre moving away with a separate staff. Her and harry will continue doing more events than will and kate-hopefully with a modern staff who sees working that hard as appropriate and without connection to will and kate they wont have any info to leak to the press the next time megs work ethic makes them look bad. Although they could still make shit up but hopefully with no office & staff connection it’ll be more transprent that theyre making stuff up?
the press will praise them for that while calling will and kate workshy.
I hope meg and harry stay strong and dont let this encourage them to diminish their enthusiasm for initiatives they feel passionate about. Will kate and the british establishment want them to do that, dim their light so they’ll look less inferior in comparison
The move to Frogmore was planned before the wedding. Such things do not happen suddenly, the Palace machinery works in advance and slowly.
What is the swear word that got censored by the Daily Mail: “b******ed Kate’s staff”
I can’t for the life of me figure out which swear word fits in the “B*****ed” spot.
Bitched? Ball Busted?
I want to know too! I’m American and can’t figure it out!
I think it’s bollocked, meaning they got told off in a big way.
@Lexa thank you! Mystery solved.
The fact that these Royal reporters, behind the articles, don’t care about the “consequences” to these stories, tells me there is a grain of truth. Think about it.. if everything the reporters are writing is false, the Palace would push back on them (not the tabloids) and there *would* be consequences like loss of access etc. Just my opinion.
I disagree with this: “What she may or may not have said to any one of the royals or palace staff is of no consequence to the public.”
We’ve heard how Will and Harry treat staff, what’s the difference here?
How would you explain the 180 in the narrative of these stories though? Because just a few months ago, it was all about Kate guiding Meghan on this, Meghan looking to Kate for advice on that, etc. Meghan was also apparently too “friendly and informal” with the staff. These newer, negative stories are supposed to have happened right around the same time the older ones did. Even up to October, the press kept trying to paint Kate as a guiding force that Meghan AND Harry constantly relied on.
And as many people have noted before, the royal family hates to make statements about the media’s stories. It’s the old “never complain, never explain” motto that they live by, with the occasional exception.
No, they’re writing their traditional lies because they assumed the Palace wouldn’t issue a denial. Or that Harry would release another statement for them to attack.
What they didn’t expect? The Queen to have Buckingham Palace issue a denial, which is what happened.
“Meghan made another white woman cry”
Melissa Toubati is Moroccan.
Moroccan is not a race.
Many North Africans see themselves as white and are white on the US census.
The situation in Europe is vastly different. Here since the last terror attacks, Moroccans are treated like pariah. Whilst it is socially not acceptable to use slurs against blacks, there is no such “niceties” afforded to North Africans, the same argument “moroccans” is not a race is used against them. As an African woman, with skin much darker than meghan’s, i can attest that it is better to be black than north african in the current climate
LOL, I guarantee you North Africans (particularly those from the Maghreb) are NOT perceived as/treated as white in France, if indeed that is where she’s from or has been based in the past. What does the U.S. Census have to do with it? There are North Africans of Arab or Berber ancestry who can white pass, and there are a ton who can’t. I don’t know what Melissa looks like to know if she qualifies. My husband is an Egyptian Arab who is white according to the U.S. Census (my home country), but he has the skin tone of Barack Obama and the hair type of an African…nobody, and I mean nobody, in white society, is treating him like he’s white. There are many Egyptians lighter than him, and many darker. He is a POC. I don’t know if Melissa perceives herself that way or not but we need to be careful. Arabs (if that’s what she is) are not “white people with a tan”. Arabs definitely are not culturally or racially coded as “white” in the U.S., unless they can pass…no matter how the Census classifies them. It’s less about how you see yourself (a lot of Egyptians would like to see themselves as white) and more about how the dominant society sees you and treats you.
A good book to read on this (for anyone interested) is The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race (though the vast majority of Iranians are not Arab, it’s a good look at, as the title says, the limits of whiteness).
Thank you for your comment. Very interesting.
I will check out that book!
From the pic I saw of this Melissa girl she looked very white but who knows. There was only one pic of her after all.
Thank you for the pleasingly patronising lesson. I am Moroccan. I am in the UK. We are not considered white. Some woc are white passing. Please take your American paper-bag test (“…she looked very white…”) and imperial minded standards (imposing American racial categories worldwide? Knowing nothing of the nuance of being POC outside the USA? Not the best look.) elsewhere.
People are keen to demonise us (terrorists!) and also to erase our ethnicity (in America they’re white!). We just can’t win when people have such pleasure in displaying their arrogant ignorance.
OT: her surname may be Touabti rather than Toubati – both are North African surnames – and I’ve seen both used in the press about this. Could be due to transliteration, perhaps.
@Justsayin Moroccans are Arabs, which is considered an ethnicity. They are one of the most ostracized groups in Western Europe. I find your comment exceedingly ignorant.
I’ve dipped my toe in a few times with comments here, but for today I’ll skip again – albeit I’m sure to miss some witty and insightful words – and just say LOL and to the headline and concept. It’s just so laughable and I still am not seeing a lot of buy in, except from those who would regardless. Thanks for the piece @Kaiser, it’s great. While the racism is fact, I’m guessing there’s some shady Brexit stuff getting missed with this narrative.
I hope she pours herself a nice glass of white tears every night. And sips them daintily from a crystal champagne glass.
The Fail has 2 new stories that show Harry is fighting back, one is the he and his team are looking for the mole and the other is how Meghan is being advised to turn to TQ and Sophie for support and advice. As NOTA mentions the denial was issued by Buckingham Palace NOT KP which means TQ has gotten involved and has H&M’s back. The Sussex’s clearly cannot trust KP press team to stick up for them, esp as William the brat controls them. Harry has clearly gone to his grandmother for support and as a result her more experienced press team are involved.
As I said upthread, Andrew kicked this all off with the tiara story and the Cambridges & Middletons have run with it – all 3 benefit the most PR wise from this as they all have negative narratives surrounding them. Dowager Queen Carole and Prince Marshmallow have both confirmed the Cambridges will spend Christmas at Middleton Towers – am betting there will be another Cambridge shadow court church pap walk at the same time at the Royal one with another cut price shooting event on Boxing day like a few years ago. Willy is in a strop because he doesn’t like Meghan. To me that is one of the things that has been consistent since this all began – it appears in almost every story.
Actually, KP seems to have issued the denial, or at least issued one separately from Buckingham Palace? I think initial reports said BP (a few places like an article in the Mirror still have it listed as BP) but its since been clarified as KP? I don’t know, it’s confusing. There’s too much information flying around at the moment. These articles cite KP:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/7870884/furious-kate-middleton-meghan-markle/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1052841/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-row-fued-kensington-palace
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6449327/Furious-Duchess-Cambridge-fell-Meghan-Markle-royal-wedding.html
Unless you guys are talking about a different story/denial?
Yeah I think its the same story – the one about Meghan allegedly being rude to a member of Kate’s staff. The story is BS in itself and its a shared household, unless they are talking about Kate’s personal staff i.e. her PA, nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, etc..
Hi Lexa, I am responding about your comment below on the Vladimir Tiara. I do not believe that Megan would have been offered or even would have asked for that tiara. I do not believe the Queen would even loan it to one of her own granddaughters. It screams QUEEN too much! Further the Vladimir tiara, in it’s emerald configuration does not at all look like something that Meghan would want to wear. Indeed, wiith the emeralds, I find it quite ugly! I think that the DM was fed that information to deflect from the possibility that Eugenie may have been allowed to wear a tiara that was denied Meghan, even after it having been offered to Meghan and selected (which would shine poorly on both the Queen and Eugenie). As for Kate sucking up to AK, I can totally see that. It is interesting that the Queen did not loan Meghan any jewelry for their big tour (or the Irish one for that matter). Does she not usually loan at least a brooch gifted to her by the visited country? Any loaned jewelry would have to go through AK. Additionally, the article I first saw about AK and the Chester/ hat issue was quoting AK. It has since been changed or I am just not able to find it. I think quoting AK originally was a mistake, as they did not intend to reveal Jobson and Low’s source. I am quite certain she was the source. In some articles it was said that Meghan was denied the tiara by courtiers, as they were concerned about its provenance (we know that the Vladimir is Russian). I don’t think there was a row, I just think AK does not like to be questioned and complained to the Queen about Meghan.
Hi, longtime lurker here…. I believe that the original article with the denial of the bullocked story had the denial coming from KP and not BP. Some sources later incorrectly attributed the denial to BP. I just have to put my two cents in here regarding these crazy stories about Meghan. I say: Look to the Queen. While I believe that there are several different Royal households and offices that are sniping at Meghan I also believe that the Queen is not only aware of that and not putting a stop to it (when she could) but playing a part in it herself as well. I am convinced that Angela Kelly is the source of the Tiara and Chester/No Hat stories. Some articles indicated that the source of these two stories is the same and in a July article the DM indicated that it was Kelly that told Meghan that the Queen would be wearing a hat (and should have known to wear one). I remember being surprised that they named her because they were basically outing her as a source. Her name, however, does not appear in subsequent stories on the matters. They are only said to come from a “Royal source.” Kelly would also be one of the few people that could confirm with Valentine Low that Meghan had been offered the choice of an emerald tiara. Also, some of the reported bitchy comments by the Queen, if truly said, could only have come from a very close source (comments like consternation at no hat, surprise at a really white dress and no veil , Meghan being “difficult,” etc.). Additionally, Lady Anson made some really bitchy comments about Meghan’s choices for her wedding that were published only days before the big day. I don’t believe that either of these women, one a close confidant of the Queen and the other one of her (previously discrete) first cousins, would say anything disparaging about Meghan or her actions, inactions or choices unless it was with the Queen’s prior knowledge and green light. Why would the Queen be doing this? I would think for several reasons, some of which have been mentioned: deflecting from Andy-gate; soothing ruffled egos (William, Kate and Eugenie); putting Meghan in her place (notice how many of the sources refer to Meghan’s needing to learn the proper “pecking order”?); and, making it clear that Meghan had to accept “gratefully” any crumb she is offered (see Frogmore cottage release); and, that the Queen will brook no opposition or even reply to her bait-and-switches ((first the tiara, then Apt 1 (the Irish Mirror is reporting that H&M were ready to move in next year but Will and Kate decided they want to use it as state and reception rooms) and now Adelaide Cottage???! . . . will Eugenie move there with Jack?!!)); and more. I believe that there is a good possibility that the emerald tiara in question is the one that Eugenie wore for her wedding and thatshe threw a fit when she learned that Meghan would be wearing it. Think that Eugenie is nice and she would not partake in this slamfest on Meghan??? You only need look at the photos of her arriving at the big family dinner before last Xmas to know that she is a first-class bitch. She seems to make sure to put her hair behind her ear so the paps can photograph the AYA earrings she is wearing. Eugenie who rarely, if ever, wears earrings is seen sporting a large, noticeable pair designed by Chelsy Davy??! WTF? She may as well have worn a t-shirt stating “Team Chelsy” (the same Chelsy that Beatrice jetted of to holiday with right after said family dinner); and, this is on the day that Meghan is going to meet the Windsor Clan. Princess Michael was not the only Royal dissing Meghan that day. I could say much more but I am sure this post is way too long already. I am just sorry that Harry and Meghan will be going to Sandringham for Xmas. I do not believe that the Queen has Meghan’s best interests at heart and her spending the holidays in that viper den will only add fuel to the fire.
Good eye! I did a little sleuthing and can confirm your catch. Wow!
http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/shop/product/aya-africa-mosi-oa-tunya-earrings-set-with-gemfields-emeralds-by-aya-africa/
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/20/16/4779B3E100000578-5198241-Princess_Eugenie_was_among_the_first_to_arrive_at_the_Queen_s_an-a-36_1513785607222.jpg
@Mary,
Wow. Your comments are much appreciated and definitely not too long! They put a whole new spin on things, as I had not once considered Kelly as a possible source of tiara-gate or that TQ would offer a tiara and then renege. Eugenie’s true character is a whole other bit news to ponder.
I wondered that about Angela Kelly, too! Maybe that’s another reason Kate is coming off better in some of these pieces. There was one article last week/this weekend that stated that a royal aide said that Kate had been smart to cozy up to Angela as she holds the keys to the queen’s jewelry box and requesting tiaras but as you said, Angela was supposedly taken aback by Meghan’s asks. It makes sense that she would know about the tiara showdown, and if it’s true that Meghan requested the Vladimir tiara** I could see her balking as that seems like a big ask.
** Diana also wore this tiara, right? I could see them wanting it as a way to represent her at the wedding, and it could be one reason why Harry allegedly got very emotional about being told no.
Hmm….very interesting. I agree that some of these leaks are coming from people close to the Queen, but I am sure that the Queen would have never instructed these people to make her private comments public. I am sure Kelly must be mortified that her name is being linked to all this, she must have mentioned things which she thought would have been kept in confidence. Trust Kate to cosy up to Kelly…..hey maybe this is stuff that Kate has passed on to people.
WOW so is Harry going to let his grandmother and family shit all over his wife.
@Mary. Amazing, very good to know.
And after learning about Eugenie’s Snow White costume, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had an unpleasant side to her personality.
This Angela Kelly bit is super interesting. I was just reading the Richard Kay DM article ago when he referenced the wedding tiara kerfluffle he referred to a very close aide to the Queen involved and I immediately thought “Angela Kelly”.
About the Queen loaning or not loaning jewels to Meghan–didn’t Meghan wear a big long pair of diamond earrings with a blue evening gown lately on tour, maybe in Fiji? I thought those were possibly loaned.
@Mary. Sounds about right. I thought maybe the emerald was offered to Meghan, the Queen having forgotten Eugenie had already called dibs. Then the tiara was deemed to be off limits.
The Queen has been dealing with every kind of diplomatic issue for over 60 years. If Meghan is seeming to be throwing the RF off balance I’m sure TQ would sanction a few well aimed leaks.
Michelle Obama is quoted as saying she would advise Meghan to take it slow. As first lady her first priority was to check her children were ok and check out the lie of the land. Whilst I don’t think people should be going after a pregnant woman Meghan isn’t exactly avoiding stress. Wearing the coat to the wedding was a stupid move. It was obviously deliberate, generally women don’t dress to look 8 months pregnant. I can totally see her being sharp with staff. She scolded Harry at the 2nd wedding when she was talking to Zara. As a human being, as a woman, she’s impressive but those qualities aren’t what she needs right now. It’s tact and diplomacy.
@Mary, I agree. The pregnancy announcement should have been held until the 2nd week or the end of the tour as well. She made enemies where she didn’t need to.
That should be @Rosie…
Much of this has the stink of Bucklebury, including all of it hitting right before wannabee royal granny Carole gives an interview. Right after the stories of Carole stepping back, didn’t realize she was stopping Charles from seeing the grandkids, Kate doesn’t need her anymore. So obvious.
Stage mummy doesn’t like her plans going awry after all these years. Her, her daughter, and the SIL she loves more than her own kids. They were supposed to be the darling of the royals. Turns out all those years of lies and laziness has caught up with them. Along come Harry and Meghan, with Meghan getting right to work and the surprise bestseller cookbook. Plus the public love of Doria. Carole is mad.
Now tell us what you really think!!! 😆
I don’t know if I agree Carole is “the mole” leaking tidbits, but gosh I like her even less after reading the Telegraph interview. If appearing even more uptight and pretentious was the vibe she was going for there, mission accomplished.
@Mary, OMG if you are correct about AK, why would they do this to her while she’s pregnant? That’s seriously disgusting. It’s okay if you have certain issues with how she’s going about her royal life but why can’t they speak to her directly instead of talking to journalists. If it is her she needs to be fired. Man I really bad for Meghan.
These sources spoke with Jobson months ago. His book was released recently, in part prompting this huge onslaught of negative press about Megan. I think that when people spoke with jobson and other Royal reporters they did not anticipate that Meghan would get pregnant so quickly, particularly given that they had the big tour planned. I agree with you that it is terrible that Meghan is being subjected to this onslaught of negative press. I also think that the leakers, including AK, need to be fired. Sadly, I think that the Queen values the services of her leaky courtiers more than the well-being of her new granddaughter-in-law.
My goodness this is really something else. Both Harry and Meghan need to run away from that place. I remember before the wedding took place there were two women (whose names I cannot remember) who told on television that Meghan should run away. One lady in particular said its the courtiers in particular who are outdated and snobbish and run the place. Those warnings seem to ring true. I just hope she’s okay, these stories actually make me feel sick – can you imagine how Meghan must be feeling?
@princessk; serpentine fire: Perhaps not her private comments but there were comments allegedly made by the Queen about Meghan that were leaked with the tiara and Chester stories. I would not give the Queen a pass though. Had she made the other pissy comments about Meghan, never intending them to be leaked, she would likely know who the leaker/s is/are and you would think she would act to stop the leaks (if it is AK she should be fired). If she did intend to have the comments leaked, well she would truly be rank. I think it is the latter because BP has not moved to quash any of the negative Meghan stories or leaks (which the Queen could do) and as far as I know AK still has a job. I know that many of you are saying that BP never responds but this is crazy, Meghan is pregnant, has to be very stressed and has had to put up with an onslaught of negative press that I don’t think any other newly married-in has had to endure. It is time for BP (not KP) to say: enough!
I’ve read that Angela Kelly is incredibly close to the Queen. Like more of a family member than staff member. I can’t see her being fired.
The pissy comments about divorced bride Meg wearing white ring true too because can see the old guard getting into a snit about that. Sure two of the Queens children divorced and then remarried others but their second weddings were much more understated than the first. In the DM this weekend Richard Kay has an article referring snidely to Meg’s first wedding in Jamaica. I think we underestimate how the old guard look askance at her divorced past.
@princessk; serpentine fire: Perhaps not her private comments but there were comments allegedly made by the Queen about Meghan that were leaked with the tiara and Chester stories. I would not give the Queen a pass though. Had she made the other pissy comments about Meghan, never intending them to be leaked, she would likely know who the leaker/s is/are and you would think she would act to stop the leaks (if it is AK she should be fired). If she did intend to have the comments leaked, well she would truly be rank. I think it is the latter because BP has not moved to quash any of the negative Meghan stories or leaks (which the Queen could do) and as far as I know AK still has a job. I know that many of you are saying that BP never responds but this is crazy, Meghan is pregnant, has to be very stressed and has had to put up with an onslaught of negative press that I don’t think any other newly married-in has had to endure. It is time for BP (not KP) to say: enough! EDIT: @arsesds73, my guess as to why this is happening now, notwithstanding Meghan’s pregnancy, is that because a lot of this comes from Jobson’s new book and his sources spoke to him months ago. It was the release of his book that prompted, at least in part, this recent onslaught of negative press. I think that when the sources spoke they did not take into account a possible pre-Tour pregnancy. But as I stated above, the Queen should shut this down now, in good part because this bullying of a pregnant woman is outrageous.
@tourmaline, those earrings were loaned to Meghan but KP did not say by whom. Loans from the Queen are usually identified. Some are speculating that they were a loan from Camilla. I am curious to see if Meghan is invited to the upcoming diplomatic reception, at which tiaras are worn. Will the Queen invite her? Will she wear a tiara? Will AK make her wear the ugliest tiara in the vault??!!!
Meghan was planning to announce she was going to have her projects at the end of the year. The cookbook and the tour were successes. Someone feels threatened.
Melissa I think is the snitch. I think she didn’t resign; she was fired for cause. A statement released that her role in the wedding was essential? It was released to cover for Melissa.
I dunno, as someone who worked for some big celebrities discretion is a must and given she worked for Madonna, she’ll know how to deal with difficult people so i don’t think she is the snitch as it would ruin her future career prospects. But maybe things with Melissa did get over wrought – considering everything that went on leading up to the wedding, it seems everyone was under a lot of pressure and that no one reacted well to it.
EDIT: Its been confirmed that the DoLittles will be spending Christmas at Sandringham – someone (the Cambridges) has been given a bollocking by TQ and/or Chuck and told to toe that party line and put on a united front.
Interesting.
Interesting especially if, as stated upthread, Carole and James already said they’d be at the Middletons.
I predict Carole will be very pissed at having her grandkids taken away from her this Christmas, and will go on to leak a lot of shit.
Can’t wait XD Love drama.
Lool!……and Carole told the Telegraph that she has put Christmas trees in every room in her house.
I think it’s easy to blame this Melissa person for all the stories but as others have said, if she wants another personal assistant job she won’t want to be known as indiscreet. Since some of these stories are from months earlier it’s possible someone saw the news of Melissa leaving as a good time to leak these stories.
Yes, it will be interesting to see if any announcements about Meghan’s charities are made. The Palace, urged on by the Cambridges are trying to rein Meghan in. I said all along they will not let Meghan outwork Kate.
For the people saying that Meghan has to make nice with the Cambridges because they will be king and king consort one day…
I don’t think Meghan cares. Sure anything can happen but we can expect it to be 15 to 25 years before William ascends the throne–assuming the monarchy lasts that long. If people think that Meghan will be bowing and curtsying to Will and Kate at that point (much less now) they are deluding themselves.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the monarchy survives in the future but the vast state-sponsored wealth is stripped out–this wealth is what makes the British monarchy so powerful.
To me, the biggest lesson to Meghan out of this sordid and temporary affair (because the gossip is so bullshit she can easily change the narrative with an appearance or two, even more so when baby Sussex arrives) will be that she needs to ensure that she and Harry are financially secure to do whatever they want. They will probably start to make discreet investments going forward.
@online comment. You may be entirely correct. But if that is how Meghan feels it puts her husband in a difficult spot doesn’t It?
Especially if he plans to be a working member of this family. William and Harry were not born with equal roles.
Honestly, the best thing for Harry would probably be an end to the monarchy. Being the subject of his brother sounds difficult.
Edward the 8th became king fairly suddenly. The queens father as well.in 1936. The Queen came to the throne decades earlier than she wanted.
Charles may live into his 90s like his parents. But it is far from guaranteed William is 20 years from the throne.
Michelle Obama just weighed in with advice to Meghan to not be in a hurry to do too much, and reminded others to remember Meghan is under a lot of pressure.
Michelle would be a wonderful friend/mentor for Meghan. I hope Meghan carries on with some of the fantastic work Michelle did with underprivileged British schoolgirls when she visited Britain. Michelle is a real fountain of wisdom, some of her quotes help me get by.
Btw, all the ww on here who read and post on LSA, should stop. That forum isn’t for you, ww. It’s quite clear you have no idea how to discuss Meghan’s ethnicity, heritage, or views on colorism, or even her social climbing, for that matter. Telling people they’re racist for saying Meghan is white-passing? Leave it out. Anyone of us can see Meghan is more inclined to her white side and white ancestry. obviously, that doesn’t make her a bad person, she’s half white after all… but seeing certain people discuss this topic makes me feel uneasy because you don’t understand and never will.
BTW, many WOC on LSA disagree with guestt’s attitude.
@ guestt – so explain it to us please?
How would you feel if someone posted that Celebitchy is not for you?
How do you get a better understanding of folk if you don’t “mix?”
From a my own point of view I can’t say I give any real thought to Megan’s ethnicity until I come on site like this. She is Harry’s wife as far as I am concerned.
What is LSA please? @guest, how do you know that Meghan is inclined to her white side? Meghan has many times gone to great lengths to explain her position on all of this.
It’s the website Lipstick Alley.
LSA is full of trolls in digital black woman face.
That site hasn’t been majority black since 2005.
Tbh I read LSA because it covers a lot of gossip that doesn’t make it onto other gossip sites I follow (with the occasional exception of ONTD) but I do not have an account there or post there. It has always seemed like a space for black women and I respect that. Marginalized groups should be allowed to have their own spaces where they aren’t intruded upon.
Remember when the DM was reporting that Meghan was turning to Kate for advice and comfort when Meghan’s family was selling her out on the regular? They also reported how close the two were just by the body language they were giving off when they attended the tennis matches together. Now Meghan is an anti-royal family shrew who is trying to spray some Febreeze up in the church. I feel bad for Meghan. I didn’t expect it to be this bad for her. Even as she’s pregnant it’s like the British press is trying to make her as unlikable as possible.
Febreeze, LOL! These stories really are ridiculous.
@ Oliviajoy Build ’em up to knock ’em down is what the press do I am sorry to say.
The British press never build meghan up they attack her every chance they could every time she went out they accused her of breaking protocols that no one knew existed or they made up to attack her. It’s horrible the way she being treated its disgust no one just a few people here are defending her the glee in which some people are ok with attacking a pregnant woman I don’t believe any of stories. One minute Kate and meghan are thick as thieves meghan is so depend on kate the great with advice about being a royal now all suddenly they been beefing for months and meghan is sudden a witch on broom terrorist the palace staff meghan been a working actress for years not one of her colleagues or the crew has say anything negative about her everything that has been say about her is always the same nice polite kind and hardworking. Now all sudden she This horrible monster who doesn’t know how to speak to staff. The only people who are buying this stories are people who already dislike meghan so they will believe this stories and gladly attacks her with every vicious nasty dog whistle words they can get away with the worst part is they don’t care that she pregnant.
I don’t think Meghan has ever experienced full-on anti black racism like this. She thinks of herself as biracial & speaks of anti-black bigotry against her mother but not herself. She is now feeling it herself, from these stories in part, but also from the venom of old-fashioned British racism. And it is the “white side” of her ancestry–the side that gives her privilege in the American context–that has caused her the most suffering. I feel awful for her, especially because she’s pregnant &, therefore, I’d assume, somewhat vulnerable.
You don’t know what meghan has experience as a biracial woman just because she hasn’t say anything about her dealing with racism That doesn’t mean she hasn’t any dealing with it. She was a actress in Hollywood where most roles goes to white women she grew up in mostly white area do you really think the kids she went to school didn’t make any negative comments about her appearance. I doubt she shocked by the racism by the British press I highly doubt as a woman of color she is surprised by the nastiest of the press. And with her half sister I definitely think meghan experience first hand how racism works .
There is a feeling that someone is very threatened by Harry and Meghan moving away. They are threatened by the princes splitting up their work environments. IF it is true that Harry feels very suffocating at Kensington Palace (which I believe is true) this is more of a threat and want to punish the person they feel is causing this disruption(Meghan). This threatened person does not want Harry to leave Kensington or go off and create a different life doing what he wants to do. This is all about controlling the narrative. This maybe a person/persons working in the royal palaces or this could family members. They are trying to control or restrain Harry and Meghan from doing what they really want. Harry growing up and manning up has caused a stir in the palace they don’t like. These people have had say and made decisions for royals forever and they do not plan to give up their control. So writing unflattering stories or lies about Meg makes them feel powerful in trying stop the Sussex show.
I agree with this. The irrelevant, sixth in line wants to move out and someone has a real problem with it.
Actually, if you want to see what’s driving some of the tabloid attacks on Meghan go to the Daily Mail and open the article “… Michelle Obama’s advice to Meghan …”, then read the comments. The vitriol against Michelle and likes of nasty comments almost perfectly mirrors articles about Meghan.
Basically, a hotbed of racism. Obviously, not every critic is a racist but in some of these tabloid sites clear majorities are. The same thing on Twitter and Instagram, when you look at the profiles of the nastier commenters, the racism and xenophobia is overt or barely hidden under a transparent veneer.
The positives are that the cascade of abusive stories and the thousands of rabid daily mail commenters have as much effect on Meghan as they do on Michelle–little to none. In fact, they are only making her a more sympathetic figure while increasing her fame and her supporters. Watch Meghan’s next open engagement, the public support will be massive.
My understanding and sentiments exactly.
Don’t forget a lot of those commenters are outside the UK. Mail online commentators are not reflective of the opinion/attitudes of Brits in General. Loads of nutters from Florida and other U.S. states.
So, in the end, who issued the denial? BP or KP?
The author of this story is deliberately trying to incite racism. Black woman responsible for white woman’s tears. Pulling the race card to deflect from bad and inappropriate behavior is just plain wrong. Duchess Sussex is trying to be center of attention and buck the system. She needs to get over herself and get with the program.
Hahaha! Angela, is that you?
True stories or not…I give this marriage 5 years if this press pressure keeps up.
I really think that someone feels very threatened by Meghan’s popularity and work ethic. What a hornet’s nest the palace must be. Ugh!
I honestly think it’s a number of things: (a) the way the cookbook thing happened probably pissed people off; (b) it doesn’t help that the community that benefited looks to be Muslim; (c) and the tour of Australia was successful and Meghan gave prominent speeches that were well recieved; (d) Harry and Meghan were out pre-wedding doing events that were well rec’d, and (e) according to pictures Meghan seemed to be getting on very while with QEII and Charles. All of that happened much too quickly for people I think. Just too familiar too fast.
Folks, including Meghan, were exhausted by the wedding and the Markle family BS. I’m sure that put her on edge as well as the people around her. Throw in the subtle cultural differences and bang. There you go. Someone or something had to break. I do believe it is someone senior who is leaking this info or it’s a sloppy job by Jason. Lol.
I think the move to Frogmore is an attempt by H & M to get out of the KP fishbowl where every move is both watched and wrong. Finally, it’s a good thing that they are carving out their own interests. They need to do that in order to realize their own ambitions and not be s threat to W & K.
“there are a handful of people in the royal family who really, really do not appreciate what Meghan has done already”
That’s what I don’t get. Meghan is popular with the people, who will decide if/when they don’t want a monarchy anymore. Because the Queen won’t be here forever. Once she’s gone, the popularity of the royal family will decline as each year goes by. They should be overjoyed that someone like Meghan joined the family, who has a work ethic and can “justify” (as much as that is possible) keeping a monarchy at all.
@MrsKrabapple, I agree 100%. It seems very shortsighted of the Royal family to diss and try to stifle a member who has the potential to be one of the most liked of the lot.
I find it strange that the writer of the article would have referred to the white dutchess taking the black dutchess to task for working the personal assistant too harshly. If I had not read Megan was black, I wouldn’t even know that she is. She does not appear to be a person of color at all.