Back in November 2018, the British tabloid media was in a frenzied state about the “feud” between the Cambridges and Sussexes. The initial fixation was on the duchesses, and Meghan was cast as the intemperate American diva and Kate was cast as the tearful soon-to-be-queen who was enormously disturbed by all the divatude. It was a good soap opera, and it was likely a huge fiction to mask the reality of Harry and William’s huge falling out over the course of the year. Anyway, it was during that crazy time that the Sussexes announced that they were separating their office from the Cambridges, and eventually we learned that they would get their own communications office and dedicated staff based in Buckingham Palace.
At the time, I mentioned (along with other royal-watchers and reporters) that in addition to the separate offices, it was likely that the Royal Foundation would end up a victim of the Sussexes and Cambridges’ falling out. The Royal Foundation used to be for William, Harry and Kate. Meghan was added to the title and given a full seat at the table. But the writing was on the wall months ago: the Royal Foundation just couldn’t function with both couples aboard. So now they’re splitting up yet another thing.
The Fab Four of Kate, William, Harry and Meghan are set to split. In the latest development of the royal rift, the Sussexes are about to break away from the couples’ joint charity, the Royal Foundation. Just 15 months after their first and only joint appearance, the Sun can reveal the two couples will go their own way and pursue their charities separately. Royal aides have been quick to point out that it’s not the end for the four of them working on individual projects together. But it’s a major blow for the Royal Foundation, which Meghan only officially joined after her wedding last May, which had intended to harness the star power of all four.
A royal source said: “Things did get very bad between the brothers and they didn’t see each other privately for a number of months after the royal wedding. Certainly the animosity over status, money and Meghan meant that the split in their joint households had to be brought forward much more quickly than anticipated, so perhaps it was inevitable that their joint charity has to be split too. Meghan and Harry want to do things differently to William and Kate. William is the future king and so is sometimes restricted in what he can do. The Sussexes want the flexibility of more commercial decisions. But the brothers’ relationship has vastly improved since their working lives have separated.”
Another source said: “The couples have been given two options – the first is to leave things as they are and the second a complete split. Nothing has been formally ratified but all the mood music is suggesting the Sussexes will break away. The Sussexes weren’t in a rush to make any changes, but the Cambridges were. However it’s a complex procedure and very sensitive. The Cambridges have definite constitutionally-bound roots, and now the Sussexes have married and started a family, with the Duchess being American, they have more freedom. Nothing will be done quickly and it’ll be a phased untangling of many of the joint initiatives, not an overnight chop”
The next Royal Foundation board meeting on 19 June is expected to confirm the split. A charity source said: “At the start of last year, the plan was that all four would work together and I really believed in them as the power of four.”
I love the down-right INSISTENCE of dropping “William will be king!” into every story now. Yeah, we get it, William will *eventually* be king. Why can’t “William will be king!” ever be used as an excuse/answer to questions like “why doesn’t William work more?” Or “why did William use his sister-in-law as a human shield to deflect from the story about his affair?” If we’re holding William to such kingly standards, after all, surely he should behave more like a king.
As for the split of the foundation… there are so many other interesting little tidbits in there, right? The Sussexes were like “we’re not focused on this right now, we’ll make a decision about moving on from the foundation in a few months” and the Cambridges were like “NO you have to make a decision now or we’ll make it for you!” And God knows what all of the yammering about Meghan being American is all about. American, “more commercial decisions” versus “definite constitutionally-bound roots.” Uh-huh. I read that as Harry and Meghan wanting to be more involved in actual charity work and how the work is funded and putting together the financing for their own projects. And Will and Kate were like “don’t you know our foundation mostly just funds our Christmas parties?”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
Diana must be really sad looking down from heaven to see her beloved sons fighting each other like this.
Her legacy has always been the love between her and her sons and now, they are like Abel & Cain.
I am a diehard Diane fan. And while she was no saint (because I know people will start talking about how she manipulated). But I agree with you, as a mom, I know I too would be highly disappointed if I saw my children fighting like this. How sad.
And Kaiser, you are spot on: Wills’ future king moniker is only used to excuse negative behavior. The courtiers enable him because they know he will be King and they need to keep kissing his rear so they don’t lose their perks. Until the public turns on him as king and makes him realize he isn’t as entitled as vile thinks, the spoiled entitled behavior will not stop.
“…The Sussexes want the flexibility of more commercial decisions. …” aka make money
The Royal Family shouldn’t be about commerce. They are a primarily political institution in a unitary parlamentary constitutional monarchy.
Harry and William are hardly Cain and Abel.
My dad passed away and I know he wanted his kids to get a long.
The problem is my two siblings are not willing to have a healthy relationship with me so I dont have anything to do with them.
I’m sure my dad is disappointed but like most parents should understand that you can’t be with people who mistreat you.
They were probably fighting when she was living, so this would be nothing new to her.
Apparently there was always “a tension” because Wililam was the future king and Harry wasn’t – so I can imagine that she would be disappointed but not surprised if that dynamic developed into what we see today.
I think parents want happiness above all else for their individual children. More siblings might have acted as a buffer for these two.
Am not a parent but I know my dad is sadden by the fact that there is tension amongst his children – primarily driven by the eldest against us younger siblings and his attitude that he is better and more important within the family unit than the rest of us.
Sibling relationships change as people grow up and lead their own lives. Harry has shown a maturity in the past few years that William doesn’t have. Harry seems like he’s more secure and happy, whereas William has become more insecure and unhappy who reacted negatively to his brother finding someone he loves to share his life with. Something like that is always going to sour a relationship between family members. I think William is unhappy with his life and is jealous of his brother.
Harry married for love, William married because he was pressured into it.
Digital Unicorn – couldn’t agree more.
The idea that everything would change if William fell in love with someone the way Harry did is undoubtedly true but I don’t think William has the emotional maturity to really fall in love with someone that way. I think he probably doesn’t treat Kate all that well but really, he’s lucky to have her in terms of interpersonal relationships in the sense she is quiet, supportive, and won’t rock the boat (well, too hard, anyway – she and her family might leak things but nothing to destroy the image of their marriage), which I’m assuming are the main things he cares about, and as for the rest, he finds it elsewhere.
Digital Unicorn, I absolutely agree with you.
Exactly. I’m sorry, but from where I sit, Harry is in a much better position, regardless of who is going to be king in a few decades. By all accounts, he appears to have everything he’s ever wanted. It’s not surprising the brothers have become more distant: they want very different things and lead very different lives.
Diana was known for being very vindictive and mean at times. You can’t model this for your children and then be sad when that’s how they turn out.
@Jen that is 100% correct
I wouldn’t exactly be the image of happy and forgiving if I were married to Charles and had to live with the knowledge that I was second best. She had just turned twenty and he was thirty-two when they married. Charles did not love her, and “thought he would learn to love her.” I cannot imagine what his indifference did to the psyche of that poor girl.
That “poor girl” who pushed her stepmother down the stairs and was proud of it? Who deliberately targeted Charles as the only man in the UK who couldn’t divorce her? Who put on an act filled with lies to convince him she was the outdoorsy, country, down with everything aristocrat he wanted? Who targeted multiple married men for her extra-marital affairs?
They married the idea of each other and that was destined to fail, with or without both of their infidelities.
If he didn’t know her, that is hardly surprising, considering they only dated for six months before he proposed. He was a grown man, and she was a teenager.
She was a flawed human being but she was hardly the worst of humanity. I don’t believe in deifying people after death, but I try to look at their circumstances. It is clear she was unhappy, distraught, and emotionally/mentally unhealthy. It is why people commit suicide, act irrationally, unpredictably, and in self-destructive ways.
Interesting but not surprised.
Just wondering……if things are really this bad, then I think it was a smart decision to keep their son completely private and to ensure he’s never in a position to depend on William’s benevolence which is what would have happened had they accepted a role/title for him.
Refusing a title for him on the basis of deflecting publicity never made sense to me (he will be as famous as his father, for most of his life whether he likes it or not), but if circumventing Williams control was the reason, then I finally get it.
That makes so much sense, when you put it that way. They made a choice that will keep him out of royal machinations, and it keeps him out of competition with Wills’ kids. The Cambridge kids will be the working royals, and Archie will go off and be a banker or horse breeder or something. He’ll never be truly private, like you say, but this way it is clear what life they are raising him to.
“Keeps him out of competition with Wills kids…”
How sad but true! It’s clear (to me) William is prepared to use the kids in this particular fight ….it’ll be a miracle if the children can have a normal relationship in the midst of all this bitterness.
At least, he won’t have the extra challenge of constantly being compared to them duty-wise.
Archie was never going to be a working royal so why give him a vanity title? It’s kind of weird to apply for jobs as HRH Prince Archie.
Perfectly put, Bella. This makes complete sense. Thank you for your wise explanation.
@Megan, Archie is only a couple of weeks old, the Cambridge kids are 1-7 years respectively. It’s waaaay too soon to say definitively who would or wouldn’t be a working royal in 30 years from now, that is if the monarchy still stands; 30 years is a very very long time. That said, the Sussexes are playing the long game here, they aren’t taking any chances with their kid and they aren’t gonna leave their kid at William’s mercy. Archie will never be a private person, but he is well set to live a very wealthy life without the baggage of royalty.
The working royal family is going down to six royals, main line only. None of Harry’s line will be working royals.
Do you really thing William could do anything to hurt his nephew? The guy is lazy. People always compare Meghan and Kate but what about Harry & William. Harry has Sentebale & the Invictus that he did on his own; what has William ever created on his own? He tried to co-opt Shout as his & Kate only until Sara played a powerful play on KP
Exactly and as for dropping the “king thing into every article” and that he should “act like a king”, that exactly what he is doing. He is having at least one affair and fighting with his brother. Look at English monarch’s history, it has happened in nearly every generation.
ITA. He is acting like a king. But four generations of Brits (and lets be honest, Americans) have known only a queen, a queen who’s devoted herself body and soul to country and duty. Lets rewrite this narrative: William is the future monarch and QE2 has set the bar high for how a monarch behaves.
“why did William use his sister-in-law as a human shield to deflect from the story about his affair?” You got it, Kaiser.
Re using Meghan as a human shield, I agree. William is showing a pretty sinister side to his personality. And it’s becoming increasingly more and more difficult to hide it.
And then speaking of this new hunger for attention, that intimate family garden video, while incredibly sweet to watch, to me smacked of a new kind of desperation from them. Pre-Meghan, they would have been loath to give the press/public such an unguarded glimpse into their children’s lives. I always had the impression that they’d imagine such a video far beneath them.
It’ll be interesting to see where this all ends.
With a fourth Cambridge kid.
Lol…..indeed.
yes, William and Kate are playing a chess game. They are intimidated by the popularity of Harry and Meghan, and also their (H&M) genuine interest in making the world a better place. It makes me loathe William and Kate even more than I have in recent years. They have been selfish and entitled and it shows now more than ever. William is a serial cheater, lazy and inept. Kate is a paper doll Stepford Wife. I can’t imagine having any sort of meaningful conversation with either of them. However, I would get a kick out of an encounter with H&M. Archie, you are one lucky kid!
Harry is choosing to spend time with an American who called his wife nasty so….
I think calling this Harry’s “choice” is deeply misleading. He’s doing this as a favour to the head of state, who is also his 93 year old grandmother.
Migawd Meghan brings out the ire in petulant man-children.
First off I hate Trump. Second of all, people, and the British media, and twisting what Trump said I guess twisting it is what fits the narrative. Trump NEVER said Meghan is nasty. Trump said, and I quote verbatim, when asked if he was aware of what the Duchess of Sussex said about him in 2016, Trump replied, ” oh I didn’t know she was nasty to me”. That clearly indicates that Trump meant Meghan said nasty stuff about him, not that she herself is nasty. Third of all, prince Harry fulfilling his royal duty of attending a lunch with his grandmother HM the Queen of the UK is NOT “spending time with a man that called his wife nasty”. Every senior royal will have a duty to fulfil in regards to this state visit, regardless of how they feel about Trim, it’s not a choice, it’s an obligation so… If prince Harry refused to fulfil his duties, I’m sure some people on here would be the first to whine about their tax money and how Harry should serve the public that pay for his upkeep yadda yadda yadda.
they want privacy for their kids but have been using them a lot more often now than they ever have simply as clickbait
Splitting up the foundation is a good idea.
Helps define the separate directions both couples are going on.
As someone who has watched Harry grow up I am so happy Harry found a wife in Meghan.
Happy for Harry and Meghan. They really want to work so this will be great for them.
I’m here for them splitting the foundation, if for no other reason than the name was getting ridiculous and clunky to say. Lol. But seriously, if they don’t have a shared vision among them, splitting it up is the way to go.
The joint trust never made sense to me other than for the sake of efficiency. Trusts usually develop multi-year funding plans so it makes sense that the split will happen very quickly to avoid disrupting the planning cycle.
Splitting up the foundation was inevitable; if not now, then when William becomes PoW so I’m not especially surprised at that news itself.
but I am surprised at the fact that it seems fairly sudden, and there is so much shade in that article, that I don’t think Emily Andrews intended lol. Its the kind of article that tries so hard to make Harry and Meghan look bad (“commercial decisions,” wtf does that mean) but ends up making Kate and William look petty (the Cambridges are the ones pushing for the change right now, not the sussexes?)
I loved how one of the first responses on twitter was something about Will and Kate’s lack of work ethic, lol. Someone else mentioned the Rose Hanbury story and the response was – and I kid you not – “get your facts straight, Rose and Kate were not that close!!!!!” That’s the argument now? lol.
Anyway, in my mind it seems that the most logical thing is for Will and Kate to start getting more involved in The Prince’s Trust, and taking over that more and more, making it more their own if they want, and then when Charles becomes king the trust can be fully theirs and it can go on helping various charities etc. But I don’t think that they are up for that workload.
I thought Princess Margaret Son was being groomed to take over since William and Harry was not interested.
Maybe Meghan wanted all the funds from the cookbook to be used at the Hub, and the foundation, told her she had to share them with other Charities under the umbrella.
@Peg – I think you are right, I think I have heard that. but you would think it would be an easy thing, relatively, for William to take over, a well run charitable organization that he could take over and then do his own thing with. But I guess not.
And also good point about the cookbook funds. I wonder if Meghan wants to raise funds/awareness for specific causes (like the Hubb community kitchen) and the foundation is preventing that.
Running the Princes Trust would be too much like hard work for William. As others have said William and Harry have both declined to be involved and David Linley appears to be in line to take it over.
Does David Linley = David Snowdon?
BayTampa- Correct. It’s David, the current Earl of Snowdon and former Viscount Linley.
@Bay – Yes and no. His birth name is David Armstrong-Jones, his title is Viscount Linley and he is also knows as the 2nd Earl of Snowdon. He is known professionally as David Linley as that’s his homeware/furniture brand name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Armstrong-Jones,_2nd_Earl_of_Snowdon
As a royal he is someone of many names.
Thanks guys. This is just like David, Marquess of Cholmondeley is know professionally as David Rocksavage because his former courtesy title was Earl of Rocksavage.
Since David is the current Earl of Snowden, his son Charles is now Viscount Linley as the courtesy title.
I love that ‘get your facts straight!’ “denial.” As if it makes William a much better man that he cheated on his then pregnant wife and kinda got caught with someone that isn’t a close friend of his wife. Grasping at straws to make it all okay.
When Bill Cambridge becomes PoW, will he take over as head of the the Prince’s Trust?
If so, splitting up now makes sense as it gives them a couple of years to handle the transition from one to two charity foundations.
@Bay I’m pretty sure I read that William told Charles he has no interest in taking over the Prince’s Trust, and that Charles was disappointed. What I don’t understand is why this was presented as optional to William — it should be his responsibility as Prince of Wales. He’s such a lazy, useless ass. No respect for his father’s legacy.
@Lorelai William doesn’t seem to have much respect for anything or anybody. He’s made that clear since he went to Uni, if not earlier.
The Prince’s Trust was created by Charles and it is very much his own thing. It does not focus on the same issues as William’s trust. So William would either have to give up on his (extremely limited) interests or change the focus of the trust, neither of which is a particularly good option. Harry also declined the opportunity to take over the trust.
@Megan, Harry already had his hands full with Sentebale, Walking With the Wounded and the Invictus Games. And he was a major player in the Royal foundation as well so it makes sense that he turned down the request to take over the Prince’s Trust. Plus, Harry is not the heir, William is. So, the heir William should have taken over his father’s legacy since he, William, has done nothing with his life at this point really. William can’t always hide behind other people’s work just because he will be king some day. Take a page from prince Charles book, do something with his sorry life, have something to show that he has done in his life. Charles is the most productive PoW in their history, William needs learn from his father and do something productive that he can show his kids and train them, you know live and train by walking the walk, lead by example. So if the chance is presented to take over Prince’s Trust, William needs to put on his big boy pants and start working. Harry is a different story, he already has a legacy that only parallels his father. No one else of his immediate family members, other than his father and his grandmother, matches what this man has done in his 34 years, nobody.
It is very much the Prince of Wales trust, even uses the Prince of Wales feathers for the emblem. Neither the Trust nor the Duchy are Harry’s responsibility as he is not the heir. William is the only one who should be shamed for failing to step up as these are HIS responsibility as future POW and Duke of Cornwall.
“Someone else mentioned the Rose Hanbury story”.
Someone other than BayTampaBay!!!
Thank god I am not the only person keeping this story alive!
@Bay – I admit, I’m disappointed. I thought I was teeing you up pretty well for a good “rose who???” response lol
@Bay – someone is paying it forward for you on the karma. 😉
LOL Megan
“Commercial Decisions” isn’t shade. It’s a description and not a bad one. If Harry and Meghan want to work with organizations like Apple/Oprah, raise money, and funnel said money into charitable causes, they have to separate from the Royal Foundation, an organization where doing such things is not on. From a Sussex point of view, it’s purely good business.
May as well rip the bandaid off and separate everything now. When William is POW their lives will be entirely different, so maybe that’s why it’s reported the Cambridge duo are the instigators. And as much as people don’t want to hear it, that day is nearer rather than further away. Of course, this is entire story could be bull. Or part of it could be bull. We’ll see.
It is a pity that no one (cough William cough) is queueing up to take over The Princes Trust, an excellent and worthy organization. Maybe it will still be lingering around when Louis is old enough. Of course, the princes let the Princess Diana Memorial fund fold so they could focus on their own foundation – and look how that is going! – so I shouldn’t be surprised.
The thing with the Royal Foundation is that it always came across like it was a Cambridge thing with Harry being the add on who did all the work. The only big thing the Foundation did was Heads Together which has fallen by the side of the road as they don’t seem to do anything for it anymore.
I personally don’t see Meghan through a veil of perfection, but I will absolutely credit her with helping Harry see the business aspect of charitable work in a clearer light. I think she has shown a good head for it. She probably saw how hamstrung they were by the constraints of the Royal Foundation and said, “let’s evaluate this and how it works going forward.” It’s possible the Cambridges said, “Ok, you’re in or out, make a decision now.” All that is speculation on my part, of course.
This move is actually less than scandalous in my eyes and extremely practical.
Can you elaborate on the comment that when William is PoW their lives will be completely different?
Is there a reason Beatrice or Eugenie or even one of Ann’s kid’s can’t take it over? B or E seem like the natural next choice.
I realize it’s called the Prince’s Trust, but David isn’t a prince, either.
Beatrice or Eugenie would be excellent choices and I have no idea why that hasn’t been considered. Or maybe it has and has been rejected – who knows? David Linley will be retirement age when the Queen dies and Beatrice and Eugenie will be relatively young women.
Look at the difference in the lives of Charles and Andrew, and you’ll get an idea of how the lives of William and Harry will differ. Charles/William will take on more ceremonial type duties, and Harry/Andrew have more freedom to make their own way in the world.
@Lady D, Since Bill Cambridge is not interested, it looks to me that the Princes’s Trust just needs a place holder until George and/or Louis comes of age and takes over.
David Linley being retirement age does not bother me because in the USA many “retired” people make charity work their second career. The Prince’s Trust is a successful well run charity, therefore all it needs is CEO with a good head on his/her shoulders. David Linley would have no problem filling the top seat at the table.
@ one of the Marys
For one thing, William and Kate will have to do a lot more work. As the Waleses, their schedules will be much more full of official events/appearances.
They might ‘have’ to do a lot more work, but that doesn’t mean that they will do it. She blew off a tradition that lasted 115 years, because she didn’t want her future subjects to get used to the idea of seeing her there. What an arrogant cow she was that day. She did not want to be obligated to show up, so she tossed a tradition that she probably won’t see again in her lifetime.
LOL it may not bother you that David Linley will be retirement age, but it might bother HIM. Although many royals “work” past retirement age, there really is no reason why he should, if it isn’t his choice.
Who knows, though? Maybe he volunteered to take it on and everyone jumped at it. Maybe he is a good manager? He is a rather low key royal and may just want to do something useful.
I am pleased that someone raised the question of the Princess Diana Memorial Fund, has it really folded? l had high hopes for it.
Yes, William should take over The Prince’s Trust, which uses the Prince of Wales feathers for the emblem and is in essence the Prince of Wales Trust. But William doesn’t want the workload nor to continue the amazing legacy Charles has built.
The weird leak to the DFail weekend editions about Kate’s Broken Britain idea, three days before Meghan’s cookbook dropped. Trying to get some traction for Kate in the face of the huge project Meghan had that was going to make Kate look bad.
Leaks that Harry and Meghan would be getting a separate office, but oh no, it would be under KP and be a long time coming. No, it was moved under BP and moved immediately with both HM and Charles putting in money from their budgets to make it happen. KP/William trying to put out one narrative, facts and actions went ahead and overrode him.
This time? Sounds like the KP team trying to claim credit for the decision, pushing the idea W&K are the ones wanting the change right away. More likely Harry and Meghan want the change, want the money they’re bringing in to be under their control. Meghan’s cookbook earning so much money and Harry co-producing a series with Oprah.
At some point the British people will get that the interest in Meghan and Harry has nothing to do with William the Future King. The world is interested in how and what this couple impact will be on world. William and Kate are not a substitute…..they had 8 years and did ZERO. William has nothing to show for it, no Invictus/Sentabale projects NOTHING and Kate is known for dressing like a 50 year old! Recently Harry and Meghan was named as a top 50 Influencer by Fortune 500. Included on the list Bill/Melinda Gates. When William/Kate can appear on the same list with the Gate’s we can talk, otherwise…BYE!!!
The Sussex’s have become popular with the younger generation and I think as time goes on it will only grow.
I doesn’t help that the Cambridges have created this image as a frumpy boring middle aged couple, they pushed the ‘normal middle class family’ narrative a bit too hard. They reek of privilege.
The Sussex’s however have a dynamic young vibe to them that appeals to a wide range of people and backgrounds.
@Digital – that’s a good analysis. I think the Cambridges have leaned in so hard to their “normal family” image, and Kate has leaned in so hard to her image as a “royal” that they now come across as frumpy and boring.
Sure, they still have lots of fans, but you can tell there is a different excitement around Harry and Meghan.
Ok but that’s not the image at all in the U.K. regarding the Cambridges. Half of the country could not care less about ANY of the royals besides the Queen (and that includes H&M). Polls have shown W&K are actually more popular than H&M. Will that change in the future? Maybe! But this frumpy fantasy you have is not accurate at all.
Their focus on being a normal “middle class” family is especially annoying to me because i would consider the average middle class family to be some of the most insular, entitled, lazy, and socially conservative type of people in the world. The type of people who vote based on which party will ask the least the them and tax them the least. The type of small minded people who think everyone should just pull themself up by their bootstraps and claim they “don’t see color” and can’t be racist anyways because there is a black family that lives on their cul-de-sac and they’re fine with it. And I feel like I need to say: not all middle class people, obviously! I’m just talking based on my experience, in middle America, of the Lori Laughlin type of person whose main concern is keeping up with their neighbors and making sure their kids are on the “right” extra curricular activities and who just don’t seem to look beyond themselves and their immediate social circle. At least with the uber wealthy royals and aristocrats, there is this centuries old concept of noblesse oblige: realizing that your immense wealth, power, and status in the world should be used for good, to benefit the people who rely on you as the major leaders, business- and land-owners of your country. So when the Cambridge’s keep trying to insist that they’re just a normal middle class family, it just screams out to me that they want the privileges of being a well-off couple with nice homes and cars, expensive clothing, sending their kids to good schools, but that they want everything else about their life to be ordinary, boring, and private—please don’t ask them to mix and mingle with the poor, please don’t ask them to work hard for charity, please don’t ask them to look any further beyond their own noses when it comes to world politics, economics, or social conditions, please don’t expect them to show any kind of empathy with those less fortunate, or work on anyone’s behalf except their own.
Lori Loughlin and her ilk are by no means middle class. Not by a long shot. They are the 1%. And most of the other behaviors you describe are at the very least upper middle class. A large amount of the middle class are living paycheck to paycheck, a lot of the time because they over extend on homes, cars, and huge diamond engagement rings, but a lot of them will be in trouble if they lose one paycheck.
@AryasMum, I don’t think when @Amy Too mentioned Lori Laughlin, she meant that Lori Laughlin was middle class herself. She clearly isn’t. But her ethos is definitely predominant among a large percentage of the people who would consider themselves middle class both in America and in Britain. That mentality is prevalent, irrespective of the actual economic reality they might be living in.
There was a really interesting article that I saw making the rounds a while ago, that talked about a study that had polled people from a wide range of economic backgrounds and asked them how *they* would classify their own income level. A lot of people said that they would think of themselves as middle class, even though a significant portion of the people who said that had an income that was far, FAR beyond what anyone would think qualifies as such (think 2 houses + a yacht + a vacation home etc). The fact that so many people self-identify as middle class is really interesting, and it goes some way towards explaining why people like William think the way they do. For them, being middle class is an aesthetic as opposed to a material reality. They want the trappings of that type of life. The suburban feel, the three kids + the dog with a white picket fence backyard etc., but without the subsequent worries about how you’re going to afford to repair the hole in that fence. It’s kind of like the whole trust fund kid trying to play at being the starving artist, but for grown ups with a family.
Harry and Meghan would be perfect for the Prince’s Trust.
The Prince’s Trust is the responsibility of the future POW, not Harry and Meghan. William refusing to step up to the responsibilities as future POW is his choice, but Harry and Meghan shouldn’t be called on to save his a$$ and do his work for him.
spot on!
The “world” literally couldn’t care less about the “impact”, or the lack thereof, of this couple. In real life you have to explain which is one is Meghan and which one of “Diana’s sons’ is her husband. The only subset that seems to have them sorted out is the elderly ladies who spend a lot of time in hair-salons, reading hair- salon magazines.
This family is irrelevant.
@Ex-Mel, and you are speaking for the entire “world” because? IMO, YOU might know what YOU care about but you have no idea what I care about, leave alone what the entire world cares about. And please don’t insult people by labeling us and what we do or don’t do for a living. I might be middle aged but I don’t spend all my time in the salon gossiping or reading hair salon magazines. I’m a registered nurse, I work 2 jobs, I’ve raised 5 kids on my own after their father passed away, and I’m raising 10 orphans from my siblings that passed away. So, no I’m not some middle aged bum that does nothing with my f life. And I’ve seen a lot of career people posting on here; and lots of SAHMs and I would not classify any of these posters as elderly people who have nothing to do but sit in some salon and read hair salon magazines all day.
So, Salvation, you are amazing. Those children were/are very lucky to have you in their life.
Not surprised by this or the b!tchy tone of the story; the Cambridges, esp William, really are threatened by Meghan. The status and money thing is interesting – someone clearly wasn’t happy that the spare and his wife were getting better opportunities (read: Oprah) than the actual heir and his wife. I think the whole Oprah MH story opened a massive can of worms as the Cambridges were clearly pissed about NOT being involved in it, esp as a few months later William announces something similar. William has already whinged about how celebrities don’t want to work with him on MH. I would not be surprised if there was tension about who’s projects were getting all the money.
It will be interesting to see where things go with both couples and the work on Mental Health. Will they work together on it? I don’t know as both have different ideas about how to approach it and area’s of interest. I can see conflicts arising over it as I think the Cambridges will try and stake a claim and demand that the Sussex’s back away from it.
The question is will the Cambridges step up and actually DO MORE for their causes or will they continue to tear the Sussex’s down to embiggen themselves? William might but am not sure about Kate, we’ve already heard from one of her patronages that she’s going to be ‘selective’ about what engagements/work she does and who she supports – which to me read that she’s going to do less. Its not as if she has a lot of patronages as it is.
Cambridge supporters on twitter are already insisting that HT go to the Cambridges because that’s Kate’s!!!!!
My take on it (not that they are asking me, but if they were), is that “mental health” is a really broad term and a really big cause, and it may be better if they split it up a bit. Let Kate focus on childhood, let William focus on anti-bullying (LOL for days) and let Harry and Meghan tackle some of the less “glamorous” aspects of it – PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, etc. Some of the really stigmatized aspects of MH that I don’t think HT has really touched yet.
I agree, hopefully it makes them all become a bit more focused on the different area’s of MH.
I’m hoping to see Meghan work with Cams on FGM, esp as Cams doesn’t get enough press and credit for it.
They could very easily split up areas of interest. Kate seems most engaged with children/family life, so let her take children’s MH and post-partum and other motherhood related issues. Let Harry take on PTSD and veteran’s issues. Meghan can focus on MH impact on women/girls. William can do whatever is left over that interests him.
Harry was the one who first started working with mental health. Because he got good recognition for it, W&K latched themselves on to his coattails.
There are plenty of people needing help, they don’t have to strictly divide it and never cross those boundaries. Ex. Camilla supports Battersea pet shelter, Meghan supports a different one.
Obviously Kate’s Garden was not the PR bonanza they thought it would be. Meghan has been on leave for 6+ weeks and they are now reduced to rewriting and embellishing old gossip. W and K seem to be in a rut and they are blaming their lackluster performance on H and M. What has been revealed is that KP is a den of bumbling incompetents who leak like a sieve. Kate is not the style icon we were led to believe. Instead, the only person to compare her to was HM whose style is perfect for a matron 70+ years old. No one bothered to look at the other contemporary monarchs of Europe to see that she is in need of fashion advice. Those coat dresses hide how painfully thin Kate is and the Botox leaves her with an expressionless startled look on her face. I hope Kate and Meghan are pregnant at the same time. The stress of Kate being pregnant at the same time as Meghan would turn KP upside down and inside out. If Meghan marrying into this family is causing this much havoc just means the problem run way deeper that who Harry married. Charles had better think long and hard about who he selects to manage the Prince’s Trust.
Re Kate’s fashion style: like she just stepped out of Call the Midwife.
Personally, I always think of Kate’s fashion style as “inappropriate pants” or “Hyacinth Bucket”, she vacillates between the two.
Very well said!
Megan’s joining the Royal Family didn’t cause problems. It REVEALED all the problems that had been just barely beneath the surface all this time.
I don’t think anyone really believed that Kate and William were a love story for the ages but Harry marrying for love has shown just how dysfunctional Normal Bill and Keen Katie really are. Day after day we’re shown just how eaten up with jealousy the Cambridges seem to be. They go out of their way to upstage Harry and Megan and fail EVERY DAMN TIME. They’re even willing to use their own children.
I’m dying to know who is driving this campaign. I suspect that it’s William but I don’t believe that Katie is just going along to get along. We’re seeing a very competitive side of Keen Katie. She’s been ‘skinning and grinning’ at functions (especially when the Queen is present) so fiercely that there are times where it looks like she’s going to hurt herself. And she’s working harder than she ever has. That whole pantomime that the Cambridges put on at the Chelsea Flower Show should be nominated for a BAFTA.
A complete break is the best thing for everybody. Perhaps it will dilute some of the bile the Cambridges are drowning in and give the Sussexes a chance to do the work THEY want to do AND raise Archie in relative peace.
So well said, kerwood.
@lucylee Why would you want them pregnant at the same time and Kate feel stress about it? That seems mean spirited to wish stress on a pregnant woman.
He didn’t say that celebrities didn’t want to work with him.
I watched that video from the World Economic Forum and he was talking about the early stages of Heads Together. Unless we think he forgot that he made a video with Lady Gaga.. Does Lady Gaga qualify as celebrity?!
“William will be king!”
Hopefully not.
Keeping my fingers crossed the UK will have done away with monarchy by then.
First they’ll have to survive the war they’re waging on themselves, aka Brexit, though.
I’m a total history nut, and the inner workings of monarchies past and present fascinate me. But I too agree that Britain is better off without the royal family. They’re given insane wealth and privelege and an amazing platform for good works, but some of them have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the family business. Plus the whole curtsying and referring to people as “highness” thing. No one person is better than everyone else based on an accident of birth.
Even if they end the royal system, it’s not like the public will recoup all the wealth that was stolen over the centuries, or all the jewels stolen from countries they colonized. They will all take that money they “inherited” and go live in all the houses they’ve bought with their ill-gotten wealth.
I found this sentence to be the most interesting.
“Certainly the animosity over status, money and Meghan…”
Now I wonder if it isn’t more to do with Meghan and Harry’s (popular) status globally than anything…
A *very* charitable view of “Meghan being an issue between the brothers” is that William thought that Harry was rushing into the relationship/marriage too quickly. This from a man who let his girlfriend wait for 10 years before marrying her. And I believe Harry’s relationship with Chelsy had been quite long (I forget how long the Cressida relationship was). But even assuming this was all that it was, as people get older they know themselves better and they can recognize a soulmate faster.
I know the less charitable view is that William is racist but I don’t think that’s a fair assumption to make without more information. But who knows. That whole crowd those brothers run with from Eton etc seem like obnoxious bros. Not a lot of diversity there.
As for the separation of the foundations, I agree that this is good for the Sussexes. Let’s see what happens. Harry’s numbers aren’t great either. Meghan came out of the gate impressively with the Grenfell Fire cookbook. Let’s see if she’s a good influence on her husband.
I really don’t understand how young people with loads of money and privilege and time and no other job don’t jump in and do this very rewarding work. Looking at you, Cambridges.
I wish my soulmate would come on now! LOL
Even though they are royal they are no different to a lot of families and the competition that happens between brothers and sisters in laws or sisters and brother in laws after marriage.
I’m reading this much differently than the majority, I think.
Re: the future king aspect – William will have to mind his Ps and Qs more because of the role, where Harry has more freedom to pursue interests that are near and dear to his heart, like Sentebale. That’s a good thing for H&M. They can focus on more outside of the UK. Let’s face it, the monarch is more in a box when it comes to protocol, whether it’s HM, Charles, or William.
I don’t think the Cambridges forced the decision. It reads to me like the work situation was fraught as hell with all the tension between the brothers and it made more sense to start the split now for the good of everyone, likely including the staff.
What happens to Heads Together?
Well, the article says that the Cambridges are the ones in a hurry to make the changes, which is why I think many of us are getting the vibe that the Cambridges are forcing this at this moment.
Re: William being king – logically what you are saying is true, that William does have a different role than Harry and that William is bound more by “protocol.” But at this point its kind of a joke since EVERY mention of William or Kate mentions that they are the future monarch and consort. Like, we get it, lol.
I swear I read the article 3 times before commenting, but missed the line where the Cambs pushed to do it now. Thanks Becks!
Charles pursues “commercial” endeavours for a lot of the property he owns, courts the friendship of people in entertainment and recently even the Clooneys. Charles will be King. His work on the environment etc. surely shows the King can take as broad a role as he’d like. So this farcical statement suggesting William is constitutionally restricted in his role as King is fictional. It’s a means of obfuscating the fact that William really has no interest or even aptititude for the role of a modern day British King.
As Harry’s wife is learning about the scope of the influence of the House Sussex under the BRF, she clearly sees a way for her husband to use a more modern, organised, and strategic approach to charity work and helping to preserve the institution that is the BRF. Kate is a hair twirling gidget and her mother never taught her to think beyond being William’s Queen, Diana’s Foil. She can do no more than copy the Norfolk set and dress in Queen cosplay and mother those kids because anything else is a threat to William and beyond her sphere of current interest or knowledge. And yet, the BRF needs propping up. Here comes the Sussexes but Williams lazyness must prevail…
And don’t tell me William will be King as if that means anything. What’s a King in this day and age when his sphere of influence is limited to the country pile and a few BRF loyalist in his country. The UK’s influence is significantly on the decline.. No valuable military/ navy might, no trade deals, a laughing stock on Indian nightly news, closing industries and no seat at the table in the EU and no one cares about them at the WTO. So, all they have is the long-standing institution of the BRF–something that has become so anachronistic that poor Kate and William looked like clowns at that Garden Party. Who could a Prime Minister call on from the BRF in 2040 to represent the UK in Asia, EU, US, Canada? A petulant man who has no history of charitable work, who rejected the modernisation of his role? So King William and the courtiers and sycophants around him can fool themselves into thinking that a Kingdom that cares little for the opinions of the rest of the world is a Kingdom beyond 2019.
I wish I could upvote this post!
Clapping loudly!
You honestly nailed the problems with that last paragraph. The bit about the modernisation of his role is especially prudent. The world is constantly changing, and it changes fast. The future only holds more questions about the role and relevancy of the monarchy. William has a great deal of work ahead of him, work that goes far beyond just being a figurehead. He’s going to have to justify their continued existence in so many different ways, ways that I don’t think anyone can fully anticipate right now, and his inability to accept criticism and see things from other points of view is not going to help him at all.
The monarch is constitutionally limited to non-partisan functions. Though the restriction applies only to the monarch, the British people are sensitive to political interference by any of the royals. Charles has been lambasted for his political meddling, which has greatly contributed to his lack of popularity. If he wants to remain king once he gets there, he’ll have to abide by the rules as the Queen has done so well for so long. William would be wise to err on the side of caution rather than risk the same criticism and erosion of public support experienced by his father. Harry definitely has more leeway.
👏🏼 This.
Oh….my….goodness. Just preach it, Fredsmother!
@FredsMother, very well said.
I am late to this but this is wonderful post……..I am always baffled by the ‘bound by protocol’ thing…….
William could and should do more…Prince Harry seems exceptional compared to him; so engaged, so personable and relatable despite his privilege. He is getting better at being a leader. What is William doing in the meantime? He seems very useless. Prince Charles has a legacy with the Trust. what’s William’s?
“The Sussexes weren’t in a rush to make any changes, but the Cambridges were.”
This is so, so telling.
Well I’m with the Cambridge’s on this one. Cut the cord now !
So William and Kate were so desperate to get away from any affiliation with H&M beyond being family members they would inititiate doing this at the possible expense of the Royal Foundation? Sad.
Assuming the trust operates like a normal foundation, their initiatives are likely planned in three- to five-year time frames. Meaning they already have future funding commitments. It will be very difficult to plan for the next cycle with if there is uncertainty about the endowment, fundraising, and staff. A fast separation is ultimately more productive than a slow unwinding,
But….the headline was that Meghan and Harry are set to leave….even more interesting
I’m aware of how trusts work.
I highly doubt that was the Cambridges’ motive.
I mean, if they really are at each others throats then this is the best idea. I will always believe that the rift and the fighting has more to do with the boys than the women. If this makes then work more productively then split it up.
Oh, just commenting yet again to say that I think this goes along so nicely with what someone said a few days ago/last week about how “competition” is code for Harry and Meghan getting requested more. I can see it really bothering William and Kate if people are reaching out for more visits/attention/etc from Harry and Meghan and Will and Kate are starting to lose some of their star power. Just split the whole thing up and let Will and Kate handle their thing their way, and harry and Meghan will do their thing, and that will be that.
All I’ll say is, if I were running a charity, I know which pair I’d want in my corner.
True! They just seem easier to relate to.
Harry has always been popular, I recall reading a story a few years ago (pre Meghan) that one country in particular had requested Harry for a visit but were disappointed when they got the Cambridges instead. Apparently Harry is popular in the country. I can’t for the life of me remember which country it was, in fact am not sure it was mentioned in the article but I think the article came out around the time of one of the Cambridge tours so I took it that it was one of the countries they were visiting.
China?
Well Morocco definitely asked for Harry and Meghan and got what they wanted. Very interesting that Meghan still went even though heavily pregnant, shows it was important, and Morocco is not even a Commonwealth country.
When the Sussexes eventually go to the US, it will be mega.
I honestly think that this ALL stems from William and Kate’s jealousy over Harry and Meghan’s popularity. I just don’t think they ever expected H&M to take off like they did, and it was crystal clear during the tour in October that their popularity was absolutely soaring worldwide. Since W&K are the heirs, they were surprised and angered by this, and everything since has been a reaction to that. JMO, of course.
@Lorelei I think you are right. Things seemed fine until the tour, and at that point it became clear that they were huge stars, AND that they could put in the work. That combination was a disaster in the eyes of Will and Kate. That was the point when the smear campaign really picked up steam, when we got all the stories about Kate as Future Queen Consort, etc.
You nailed it!
Lorelei I totally agree with you
Meghan gave speeches and the press started comparing her to Kate’s lack of ability in this area and all hell began to reign down on Meghan via the press.
Coincidence? I think not.
Tiara gate came out mighty quick after Meghan rocked that speech in Fiji. Just saying.
Just look at the number of TV documentaries coming out on the Sussexes, people deemed by the ‘William will be King’ brigade as insignificant minor royals who will fade away.
IMHO Bill & Cathy never had any star-power.
Well, they were hugely popular for a while. People “wanted” them to have star power. I think now that we see what it actually means for a royal to have star power and charisma (something that I don’t think we’ve seen since Diana, for better or worse), people realize that Will and Kate have always been fairly dull.
I think they did in that people really wanted to see them. I think people projected perceived star power on them, but it fell flat because of their lack of charisma and work ethic. Kind of like how Kate is called a “style icon” by so many when the majority of her clothes are so blah. Occasionally she dresses nice and then she gets raves.
Will and Kate benefitted from being the only young royal couple when they first got married so everything they did or didn’t do got overpraised. With Meghan in the picture there is now a point of comparison regarding fashion, work ethic, charitable causes etc. It wasn’t as obvious when Harry was single because he stepped back most of the time. With Meghan there to support Harry, he is no longer taking a back seat on the charitable issues. Because Will and Kate have such a poor history regarding charitable involvement, William is jealous of Harry’s popularity. He ignores how people will forget about you if you do the bare minimum and hide from society in general. He wants the privacy and the popularity and it doesn’t work that way. The popularity isn’t his by right of inheritance. He has to earn it, something he’s never had to do.
William has coasted for two decades as Diana’s Golden Boy. Kate would have been propped up and latched on to by certain royal fans, simply because she was the choice of Diana’s Golden Child. None of that was because of them, it was always residual Diana shine.
They don’t need it though. The Queen, arguably, didn’t have “star power” when she first ascended the throne either. That was definitely Margaret. But the point of being Queen wasn’t about having star power. It’s about being Queen. You can be a constitutional monarch while still lacking in the easy charisma, provided you choose to work at the role, surround yourself with intelligent people who provide differing perspectives, and are willing to learn how to have genuine empathy for the people you’re serving.
Charisma and “natural” talent will only take you so far in life, if you don’t have the discipline and tenacity to go with it. It certainly helps and makes some of the more tedious aspects of being a public figure much easier, but it won’t cover everything. William’s issues have nothing to do with the fact that he’s boring. His issues are more related to his unwillingness to entertain any other point of view, or accept his own shortcomings. That is going to get him into a lot of trouble if he’s not careful.
They have no need of star power. The Queen has managed without it, although she is “glossier” now in her ninth decade. She soldiered on as a rather dowdy middle aged woman for most of the 70s through the early aughts.
Really, they only need a few shining stars in the family, and they have found them for the time being.
If Will and Kate worked hard at their jobs, no one would give two hoots about “charisma”.
@A I agree. They’re not running for office so it really doesn’t matter if they’re boring. As long as they’re not hated it’s fine.
They don’t “need” star power, but I think they want it after seeing Harry and Meghan on that South Pacific tour. They won’t put together that work ethic can get them 75% of the way there, and they don’t get that work ethic (or perceived work ethic) is a huge part of Meghan’s appeal. It’s easy to say “if they just buckle down and work they’ll be ok” but they won’t do that.
The Queen was never as cool as Margaret, but she was steady at doing her duty, which William has yet to do. HM gets respect for doing the work over decades and yes it is royal work and not working on an assembly line, but she never acts bored and she has done the bread and butter small town engagements. Charles has done the same. William has yet to put real work in compared to either of them.
The Queen has really looked happier than ever since Phil retired from public life. She is looking quite radiant in her 90s these days, and her star power seems to have grown more.
Why would anyone request Kate & William? Kate is barely articulate enough to speak about anything and William is not far behind…..
W&K cutting off their nose to spite their faces yet again. Who’s going to do the work for this initiative once H&M are out of it?
These two have 10-15 years before they are on a throne so I wish these articles would chill on the future monarch shit.
I dunno, given how long people in that family live I’d say it would be another 25-30 years before Big Willy gets the throne. William is going to be like his father, he’s going to have to wait a long time – the difference is Charles did something with his time and position. The Princes Trust, which is a HUGELY successful and respected organisation. Not to mention his work on climate change, sustainability etc..
Yeah, I agree. It’s 10-15 at minimum.
These two really need to get off their asses and do something. But I bet she gets pregnant again instead.
@DS9, I think a fourth Cambridge baby would be very bad optics as the UK benefit restrictions have been changed to only allow for families to draw on 2 children.
@baytampabay, but which would bother Kate more? Some bad press over the pregnancy announcement which will fade once she does the Lindo stroll or having no excuse against working more?
@DS9, I have no doubt she will gets preggers again if she can get William to agree.
I think a fourth child would be a huge mistake and would really screw their current children over. In 20-25 years, the British public are going to be pretty upset about funding the lifestyle of four royal princes/princesses and will give them the boot. They’ve let the Queen get away with it because she’s well liked and been Queen forever, but standards have changed. Two children tops would have been a safer bet.
She might get Baby #4 as a result of the Rose scandal.
If they have four, the first two could be working royals and the younger two not be. Originally Edward and Sophie weren’t supposed to be working royals and Anne’s husbands have never been.
I think the “Shout” rollout was the last straw for the Sussexes. Kensington Royal posted about the launch on insta completely diminishing the Sussexes involvement. SussexRoyal had had make their own Instagram post with receipts showing their involvement.
I think it’s clear the Sussexes were expected to do the heavy lifting while the Cambridges would swoop in at the last minute to take credit.
I would have to disagree with the ‘Shout’ rollout thing as the KP press releases/SM posts mentioned the Sussex’s and vice versa. William also mentioned them in the video he did – it was the press who made it all about William/the Cambridges. Their initial reporting didn’t included the Sussex’s which I believe was corrected later on in the day but by then it was too late.
KP chose to announce it on a day Harry was out of the country, and only using photos of W&K.
@notasugarhere LOL Their first post had literally (LITERALLY ) four of five pics of M&H at the volunteers panel. Please.
Superficial comment – Kate looks great in the first photo (blue dress)! 10 years younger!
She was pregnant here and smiling. She does look great. She looks happier and better when not under William’s scrutiny or as his “plus one” as he treats her on his own. Seems like that press conference she was able to come out in her own more. And of course I think her face would look great with a few more pounds, but she’s lovely either way.
I don’t know why there’s this automatic assumption that Kate is “innocent” when it comes to the alleged “Meghan feud.” As many of us have pointed out on this site: many, many white women have a tendency to label black women “divas” or “uppity” or “arrogant” for behaving…normally. Researchers have uncovered that this practice is exceptionally common and that many white women (and other races) see black women through distorting, racialized lenses (and don’t even realize it). So why is the assumption that Kate couldn’t POSSIBLY have had anything to do with the unfair smearing of Meghan and that it all must have been a fight between the brothers?
White Woman are always giving the benefit of the doubt everyone is really quick to place the blame all on William and the courtiers. To me Kate is just as guilty because she stood by and allow this to happen she also benefits for the Meghan diva stories . Kate went for work shy Kate to regal queen in the span of months all of sudden Kate is see as the perfect future queen .
@vanessa this is the crux of the matter. Perfectly said. Stood by, said and did nothing, allowed it to continue and stands to benefit from it.
The foundation should have been only will and Kate’s. They always pulled Harry along as a plus one which was looking back at it now was not the best thing.
@ader, This is just my gut feeling but I do not see Cathy driving the smear campaign. It is true she is probably doing nothing to stop it but I do not see her in the driver’s seat. Cathy has her hands full with the wandering well-traveled scepter and cultivation of the famous Norfolk Rose.
I hear ya Tampa. But, I wonder…only because Kate has been dealing with Willy stepping out since St. Andrews, and still said, “yes.” You’d think she’d be used to it by now, ya know?
I think both of those Cambridges are to blame.
I dunno, Kate has never handled female competition well and I think she enjoyed being the centre of attention as the only SIL/DIL when it came to the Wales’s family.
Kate had a mean girl reputation during uni and the waity years. Lets not forget how she treated, in public and in front of the paps, Williams cousins the York Princesses. There were many stories about how she and Pippa would bully and run off any woman William showed an interest in.
Kate may not be leading on it but she’s certainly not doing anything to stop it, in fact I’d say she was subtly/passive aggressively encouraging it. She has started to copy Meghan’s style – Kate never wore loose trousers until Meghan did. Being the future Princess of Wales is EVERYTHING to Kate, esp as she’s been cosplaying Diana for years.
My theory is that Kate got unfavourably compared to Meghan, got upset, made some snowballs and had Carole throw them via her tabloid connections. William likely was in on it too via Jason. I don’t think Kate is the innocent that many would like to believe. I think she is very competitive and can be ruthless in ensuring her status and reputation. That smear campaign in the Fall of 2018 didn’t materialize out of thin air.
Kate will be Princess of Wales. Kate will be Queen Consort. It is is a done deal and nothing can effect her status. She may lose the popularity contest with the rest of the world (minus the UK Daily Fail readers) but she will be the top female HRH dog.
Divorce could effect her status but Bill & Cathy will never divorce.
If William wants out, they divorce.
I think Kate is definitely involved in the smear campaign. Or, maybe not the direct smear campaign, but I think she is definitely making an effort to embiggen herself, so to speak, lol. Those Middleton puff pieces didn’t come out of nowhere. Even the one last summer about how Carole isn’t as involved seemed in response to the praise Meghan and Doria were getting in some quarters for being close but not inseparable. And there have been a few other stories that make me think, “ohhh Kate is feeling the pressure.” I also have always maintained that stories that make Kate look like the poor white frail British rose, who is the Future Queen Consort, victimized by the black American duchess, come from Camp Cambridge, and that includes Kate (ie the “Meghan made Kate cry at a dress fitting” story.) Maybe shes not the who leaked it, but she knows what is going on.
But, for some reason they still seem to get along, which is why I think there has to be a lot happening behind the scenes. Kate is not that good an actress, and when we see her and Meghan, they seem to get along fine. Maybe its the kind of thing where Meghan knows what Kate is doing, but Kate doesn’t realize that Meghan knows, and they both just smile and fake it in person.
It’s like that episode of Friends – “but they don’t know that we know that they know we know!!!!”
I don’t know. I’m overthinking it. Harry and Kate don’t seem to have any bad blood, but maybe Harry just feels that William deserves the blame and not Kate? IDK.
“Maybe its the kind of thing where Meghan knows what Kate is doing, but Kate doesn’t realize that Meghan knows, and they both just smile and fake it in person.”
I think you nailed it here!
I’m sure Meghan knows exactly what’s up. She seems to be a strikingly intelligent person. Unlike Kate, and unlike William and Harry too.
I don’t think Kate or Meghan are particularly innocent in a so called “feud” (which is probably just a straining of family relations that happens to everyone eventually, royal, american , polka dotted or not). I think the key difference is with the men in this equation. I don’t think, and just my opinion, that either William or Harry are particularly adept at a long game, they have had lives of near instant gratification given their status and wealth. The breakdown of the royal foundation that has to happen now darn it or someone (William) is going to be very upset! is a point of evidence for me.
Kate and Meghan seem to be better at the long game (no where near as good as the Queen though! she’s a master, though I think her main strategy is to just outlive everyone), if either had had any real input, the offices would still have been separated but it wouldn’t have been the disorganized disaster it’s been so far.
Friendly FYI: The “polka-dotted” quip is annoying and problematic. Here’s an article that explains why it’s eye-roll-worthy.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/06/why-you-should-care-if-you-don-t-care-whether-someone-is-black-white-green-or-purple.html
Kate may not be playing the white female victim card but the media is and will continue to do so. Notice how many times Meghan’s name is mentioned in the article vs Kate’s. It’s called micro-inequity. I had to go through a course about this when I worked in management for big Pharma. It’s clear that the intention of the writer of the article is to place the blame squarely on Meghan without saying it outright. Kate has never said anything publicly negative about Meghan, however she has shown his feeling by copying Meghan, choice of clothing but most importantly keeping quite. If William and Kate truly cared about Meghan they would defend her as did Harry.
I agree, the media is playing it up and certain segments of the audience is lapping it up. It does make me sad. The more it’s lapped up the more the media will do it, supply and demand.
“Kate has never said anything publicly negative about Meghan”
Has Kate ever said anything publicly about anything???? LOL! LOL!
BayTampaBay….You’re correct as usual!!
@Ader I was referring more to the latest fawning over her wearing a polka dot dress so much like Diana. I’ll pick another one of her cosplay outfits next time. Apologies.
Don’t forget the pda attempts with William at Eugenie’s wedding. That was hilariously obvious 😂
@HMC.
No worries. It just read like you were pulling one of those “I don’t care if someone is black, white, purple, polka-dotted” comments. I hadn’t seen anything about a polka-dot dress lately, which is why I didn’t understand the reference. Miscommunication is all. 🙂
@Ader I often forget my particular brand of sarcasm doesn’t always translate easily over the net 🙂
@HMC, Guuuuurlllll, I hear ya! I find myself in the same predicament from time to time. Again, no worries! And yes! The fashion……comparisons(?) drive me nuts, too! 🙂
It’s unfortunate that Meghan is being cast as the Yoko Ono when this split should have happened the year Will married. They need to split everything up ASAP and move on!
Maybe Will & Kate were sufficiently horrified by the baby shower PR fiasco and decided they need to keep far away from Meghan, as her judgement is clearly off regarding what is expected of her.
LOL they should be horrified by their lack of work ethic not a baby shower. Please William and Kate spend more on their vacations.
@Peanuts, no doubt the NYC baby shower was poor PR and bad optics IMHO, but it blew over very quickly because you really cannot fault someone for having very rich self-made friends.
Are people horrified when William and Kate take private jets to exclusive resorts in the Caribbean, Swiss Alps, etc? Maybe Meghan’s mistake was in not hiding away at a resort with an exorbitant price tag, but rather – gasp! – celebrating in a location central to her friends.
Oh, the horror.
ETA and to clarify – we discussed the baby shower on here extensively and there was a wide range of opinions, but I think saying that Will and Kate were “horrified” by it and that is what makes them want to split up just makes will and kate look like petty, mean spirited people.
W&K who use their wealthy friend’s private plane to take multiple vacations each year. Who took a dozen friends on honeymoon with them. Who demand all other vacationers on Mustique surrender their cell phones while on the island each year. Who stayed in a freebie 30 million chalet for one of their many secret skiing vacations in France, releasing photos later to the plebes who protested. Who booked an entire resort (freebie) in The Maldives for the 10-day kid-free vacation after their first son was born. William who has always begged for freebie vacations and rentals. They’re appalled Meghan’s wealthy friends treated her to a baby shower? Oh Jan, keep trying.
@Becks1, I agree with you the NYC baby shower really had nothing to do with the split between the Cambridge and Sussex Households.
@nota – That honeymoon story gets me everytime. What kind of relationship to they really have when they take their friends on the HONEYMOON. IIRC William was the one who insisted on it – what kind of groom doesn’t want to be alone on his honeymoon with his new wife.???
One who never wanted to get married in the first place. One who always needs a buffer of some kind between himself and his wife.
@Becks1 agree the bad optics of the Manhattan baby shower were primarily because it was all out in the open on a busy avenue where paps could camp out and photograph everyone coming in and out of the hotel. The bad optics were basically that there WERE optics due to location. I’m sure all the other royals particularly Cambridges and Charles & Cam go to MANY luxe occasions and events and parties and vacays, but because of the inaccessibility of locations to photogs they don’t get labeled as modern day Marie Antoinettes.
If the shower had been held at some private estate somewhere, behind iron gates, it would have been no less lavish but the perceptions and spin would have spun differently.
Didn’t William also bring friends along when he proposed?
@Tourmaline, Dumfries House in Scotland would have been the perfect venue for Meghan’s baby shower.
@Nota, £4k a night IIRC for W&K Seychelle’s honeymoon hotel plus a private jet to and from…. but that’s ok… Just Meghan’s expenses that seem to be a problem for RRs…
PS: hadn’t realised that W&K took friends on their honeymoon – odd behaviour for a newly married couple supposed to be in love… is there an article about that somewhere?
HOLD UP. They took friends with them on their HONEYMOON?!! What on earth??
Been trying to find pictures or a story of W&K on honeymoon with friends but been unable to, still astounded by that piece of news! Did come across this however, an article about sneaky pics taken of W&K on the beach in Seychelles – lots of comments about Kate’s weight…. 8 years ago people were just as worried about her thinness as now….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2171838/Prince-William-Kate-Middletons-honeymoon-photographs-published-Australian-magazine.html
It was reported in the European press but anything negative about the honeymoon has since been scrubbed from the net due to those photo’s of Kate in a bikini being published. Its the TurnipToff affair all over again – they used their lawyer to bury any story they don’t like. I think the owner of the villa they stayed in blabbed. Also the cost of the honeymoon was reported to have been well into 6 figures (half a mill upwards by some conservative estimates) as they rented out all the villa’s in the whole island under ‘privacy and security’ so that it would only be them and their royal security there but given those paps shots and stories of them mingling with other ‘guests’ (it was indicated that these were friends of the couple) I’ll let you all make your own conclusions.
There were several reasons why they wanted the press around their honeymoon buried.
To add: the UK press did not cover much about the honeymoon other to confirm where it was after they had returned – the European and Australian press however were all over it. I know you will all say that its their honeymoon and they should be left alone and I agree they should have been and they were for the most part.
Re: the cost of the honeymoon, I think some of it was covered by the UK taxpayer (royal protection) but others picked up the costs for the rest considering reports it was a very very luxurious vacation, esp if they wanted the whole island to themselves. They apparently rented out a luxury yacht for a few days for diving and jet ski-ing. The optics of which would not have gone down well with us taxpayers back home considering the wedding bill we got stuck with.
The Cambridge’s are going to be even more horrified when they see the popularity of Baby Archie worldwide, as more pictures come out over the next year..
How many times has the press and the royals reporters have said over and over how irrelevant Meghan and Harry are . Yet the press is always reporting on them more than William and Kate .
Wow both Meghan and Kate’s outfits were terrible at that service. Buttony mess + really bad nurse hat 😆
If it’s going to be more productive just split up now.
I second that as a charity I’d rather ask Harry and Meghan for help, IMHO.
i think its obvious that william is far more like his dad than his mom. i think that he and kate have done zero work in helping to protect meghan from the heinous, racist abuse she has gotten in the british press and royal community. its a reminder that despite the money and power, there are still a lot of racist, ignorant people in the UK and around the royal family. will is going to be king and rather than push for a better response to his brothers wife, he has used it to make himself look better,. he and kate are super lame.
“there are still a lot of racist, ignorant people in the UK and around the royal family.”
There are also a lot of racist, ignorant people in the USA, Europe and on Mars. Meghan will have to grow a thicker skin and just get on with as she was the one to break the color barrier.
William has the worst of both of his parents. He didn’t get their work ethics, sense of duty, or their charitable natures. He got the jealous, manipulative, and vindictive parts.
Right, I wouldn’t attribute all of his unpleasant personality traits to Charles. Diana did a lot of good and had many stellar qualities but c’mon she definitely had ISSUES as well.
Nobody in the BRF has done anything to “protect” Meghan from the racist press and trolls (assuming there is anything that can be done.) If the BRF has a responsibility in this, then the Queen and Charles are the people who should have stepped up to deal with the press and/or issue public statements. I expect they considered it but concluded it would do more harm than good. After all, Harry’s press release didn’t help. The best way forward is for Harry and Meghan to keep doing what they’re doing. They aren’t going to be the shiny new couple forever and the media will turn its attention elsewhere.
William is not like his Dad. Prince Charles is engaging and has enormous charisma. He knows how to talk to people of all ages, colour and creed. William just doesn’t have it, he is not a people person.
Charles managed to create The Princes Trust so this argument about being constitutionally bound is nonsense. He supported organic farming in the early stages when it was viewed as flaky and not mainstream. And Diana’s support of AIDS victims was tut tutted at first but there was never a constitutional crisis over it because the princess of Wales has nothing to do with the constitution.
Only the current monarch has a constitutional role. William will not have that until he is king. Kate will never have a constitutional role just as Phillip does not. In fact he created the Duke of Edinburgh awards early on in his marriage as well.
Sure the name of the foundation was unwieldy and wasn’t going to last forever, but to suggest it was related to constitutional roles is pure fiction.
Yeah the constitutional roles bit just seemed like William was grasping at straws to justify this. It seems rather high handed, like it’s another reminder that William is bound for more important things, while Harry is just the “lesser” more “commercial” brother in this duo.
This ‘constitutional’ nonsense is just spin to cover for their laziness. Neither want the roles they have – both want a life of idle luxury in Norfolk.
I’m not convinced William will be King, Charles is all about keeping the Monarchy and if these 2 lazy twats won’t step up he will do something about it once he ascends the throne. It would amuse me no end if Chuck decided to hold back the PoW titles from William and as King he would have the authority to do that. Transfer of titles is not really automatic.
oh my gosh. Charles holding back the PoW title would be so petty and awesome. My current thinking is that he would give it to Will a year or two after he becomes King, but now that you’ve said that, I can see him waiting even longer (like lets say Charles becomes king in 5 years, I can see him waiting William is 50, which would be in 13 years, to give it to him.) I definitely think he’s going to expect more work from Will before making him PoW.
IIRC, I think Edward VII waited two or almost three years to give the title PoW to George V but I could be wrong.
What would truly anger William is if HM or Charles withheld money or divided it more evenly between William and Harry. George V knew what a wastrel Prince Edward (eventual Duke of Windsor) was. He wrote his will to give more money to the other children and to prevent Eddie from selling off certain assets.
@Nota – by delaying giving William the PoW title also means denying William and Kate direct access to and control over the Duchy of Cornwall money and estate which comes with the title. Charles could as King continue to manage it until he sees fit to make William POW.
And yes I can see Chuck and TQ giving the Sussex’s a bigger slice of the money pie when it comes to it.
Re: Duke of Windsor. Didn’t he siphon shed loads of money from the Duchy of Cornwall into private bank accounts and then pled poverty when negotiating his large pension during his abdication? IIRC the King was fuming when he found out what David did and the lies he told. I can see William doing this.
William automatically becomes Duke of Cornwall once Charles is king, and gains full access to the Duchy accounts. It is the Prince of Wales title that has to be awarded. The question is what HM and Charles do with the private wealth.
The Investiture of Charles Prince of Wales, by the Queen happened pretty quickly, once Charles was of age, 21.
What irks me is that William seems to have no respect for his father’s legacy of the Prince’s Trust (PT). I would think he would want to take over the PT, make the PT bigger & stronger then hand it over to George and/or Louis.
David Linley is the perfect candidate to perform the work with the PT that Bill Cambridge does not want to do. It is also my understanding that Chucky & Cammie get on very well with cousin David. It could be wonderful thing to have David Linley instead of Bill Cambridge heading the Prince’s Trust (PT).
If anything, William resents his father’s legacy. Charles has been the most active, successful, and innovative Prince of Wales. He casts a big shadow.
I’m surprised that Harry doesn’t want to take PT on, I think it would be right up his street. But maybe he won’t have enough time to dedicate to it properly with Sentebale, Commonwealth & IG… pity though…
Harry is not the future POW. He shouldn’t be required to take up something that is clearly William’s responsibility. It is like some claiming Harry should manage the Duchy of Cornwall FFS, when he and Meghan won’t even be funded out of it soon.
It’s unfortunate for Charles, but I don’t blame William or Harry for not being interested in taking over the Prince’s Trust. Wouldn’t be the first time a father wanted the children to take over the business he built, but they wanted to do other things.
That said, the Trust may be better off without William. I doubt he has either the skill set, or the temperment, to make a useful contribution, certainly at this point in time. It’ll be interesting to see what he does re: the Duchy once he becomes POW.
In addition to the post of @weaver. It is apparent that the Sussexes were at the launch in November 2018 and it was not revealed until they made an instagram post on May 10, 2019. The ‘commercial ‘ aspect has to do with the documentary with Oprah Winfrey. That led to rank pulling.
Why do some people have to make others seem small so they can be superior?
Just a hypothesis one brother wants the love and happiness the other has and deserves.
Prince Harry has the family he needs and is comfortable with his status. It makes him interesting, personable and easier to like.
KP was the first to post their pics at the volunteers panel. Honestly, I don’t see how they ignored M&H. I also came across another piece about the launch at KP when William and Kate met the volunteers, and during his speech he literally listed Meghan and Harry before him and Kate.
@Vi – I don’t think it was the IG that was so messy (I don’t really check twitter for those kinds of things), but I think there was a press release that same day (or an article) that specifically only mentioned Kate and William and how they were looking for 3000 volunteers, then KP posted the announcement with the pictures (with some of Harry and Meghan), and then SussexRoyal posted.
I actually went back and checked my comments on here from that time lol and what I said then still stands – it was messy. Both sides could have handled it a lot better. The media at that time was only talking about Will and Kate and that did not feel unintentional. I did think the SussexRoyal IG felt a little pointed/strained with the announcement, and I wonder if the two sides had agreed to announce together, or to let Heads Together announce, or something, and KP went ahead and posted without telling them.
Something about the rollout just felt “messy.” If they are going to do joint projects, they need to be better about how it is handled publicly.
VI
Why are you trying to sound logical? This is a Will and Kate thread, wear your tinfoil hat woman! /s
@Becks1 I think you’re talking about the Daily Mail article that was specifically about the launch at KP with the volunteers. And that launch was relatively private,with no pics and social posts,which proves once again that W&K behaved correctly.
The DM headline was misleading,but the article said it was a joint effort,and it also quoted parts of William’s speech that,as I said above, made it clear they were all supporting the program. I think the other outlets reported about the joint initiative correctly since the beginning.
I think the commercial aspect has more to do with what Viv said below:
They basically advertised a luxury retreat connected to one of her friends for their mental health month on Instagram. Interestingly, I don’t think anyone except for the daily mail brought it up.
I thought it was kind of funny how Sun, Daily Mail have gone on and on about Meghan messaging with some X Factor singer, while something that is legitimately questionable and that could have fueled a week of hit pieces was ignored. This is totally the kind of things they may be willing to shut down immediately. It was a mistake on their part.
I’m not surprised that this happened. There were a lot of issues with the Royal Foundation as it is, and I know of at least one person who works in the charity sector in the UK who had discussed their problems with it, and she liked Will and Kate quite a lot. It’ll be good for both of them to have their own set up that aligns more with their own interests, because it’s clear that they have different outlooks on how to leverage their platform. I’m looking forward to seeing what Meghan and Harry do, actually.
I also think it’s really interesting that the article threw in the line about how William and Harry’s relationship vastly improved once they put some distance between them. That’ll do it, to be honest! You can love your family, but in a lot of instances, it’s just so much better to remove yourself from their potential line of fire. Being in their vicinity just opens up more opportunity for conflict sometimes. A bit of distance always helps. At least Harry didn’t have to move across the country like some people.
I’m old so I remember when William and Harry were little boys and Diana was said to have commented that she saw traits in Harry’s personality showing that he would handle the role of king more easily than William. Some of those qualities included Harry’s “ability to cope,” his “ease with people,” and “general gusto.” Diana didn’t think that William wouldn’t be a good king but she worried about the burden on him and how he would deal with that throughout his life. “William doesn’t want his every move watched,” she was quoted as saying.
What she didn’t realize was that William would grow up to be an unfocused, petulant, stubborn man-child with a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder. He embodies all the worst traits of royalty – he’s smug, condescending and arrogant – and feels entitled to do whatever he wants or doesn’t want. He doesn’t get it that he works for the people of GB and the Commonwealth, not vice-versa. Harry, on the other hand, along with Meghan, gets it – they happily jump into charitable work with zeal and real work instead of faffing around trying to be a helicopter pilot or a gentleman farmer or a spy. It’s like William hasn’t matured emotionally beyond toddler-hood and has the attention span and temperment of a spoiled 3-year old.
Things are going to get worse for William and Kate if this work-shy nonsense keeps up and it will estrange them from Harry, Meghan and the British people even more.
The Queen loves the Commonwealth and she wants it to remain strong after she goes, and that is why she has chosen Harry and Meghan to give Charles support with it.
Do the titles President and Vice President of the Commonwealth come with a salary or are they honorary?
The Cambridges will likely end up wishing they’d kept their wagon hitched to the Sussexes but I expectH&M will be laughing as their carriage leaves W&K in the dust.
I doubt it.
Bill Cambridge must realize he can sit back do as little work as possible and he will still receive all the praise. If he could just get his ego under control.
Agree. Also it just occurred to me…I’ve seen these photos many times before and couldn’t get my finger on it but Kate is giving me major Legends of the Fall vibes, when Susannah married the rich brother and couldn’t stop thinking about Brad Pitt. I am not saying Kate has ever ‘loved’ Harry, although they certainly had a sweet relaxed chemistry, but I bet she has fantasized about having the perks of royalty without the responsibility and also about being married to the fun one in the family instead of the stuffy bore. Enter Meghan who is trend-setting, hardworking and comfortable speaking in public, and also allowed to be natural and affectionate in public…and she cannot force herself to be be happy in their company.
It’s obvious by the way Meghan and Harry look at one another that they are crazy-in-love. I’ve never, ever seen a picture of Kate and William looking like that, so it’s quite possible that Kate is envious.
I always thought the Fab Four would have helped the Cambridge’s.
Jealous idiot William missed a trick.
The sycophancy towards H&M in these comments in nauseating.
Honestly, it’s nice to have some balance for once. Go to basically any other site, and M is dragged through the dirt consistently. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@GM- that’s why I don’t feel bad that this site is so pro Meghan. There is enough hate aimed at her on other sites that if this site is leans more towards House Sussex than House Cambridge, then so be it.
I know. It’s just gets tedious when every negative rumour about the Cambridges is believed even though they come from basically the same source as the negative rumours from the Sussexes: tabloids. People seem to be very invested in this ‘good couple’, ‘bad couple’ shtick where everything one couple does is an affront to the other.
I’m sure they’re all nice people but like…it’s not that deep. Personally I think the reason they split was simply because the Sussexes have a focus on the Commonwealth and international charities while the Cambridges’ focus is more on Britain.
This is one of the few places that hasn’t been completely destroyed by the “W&K are fabulous” crowd. They keep trying and are painfully obvious in their attempts. Plenty of other places for those obsessed fans to convince themselves William is a faithful husband, Kate cares deeply for charity, etc.
Here we are free to discuss otherwise, thankfully with Kaiser who has always had a critical eye for W&K.
@Fiffy….’ William and Kate will sit on the throne ‘……their focus will not just be on Britain but also internationally. W&K will need to tour Africa too one of these days and not just because of the Commonwealth. I just hope they are up to it.
Go read the DM comments it will cure you of your nauseous. ✌️
Just because I don’t praise the Sussexes doesn’t mean I despise them. The DM comments would make me feel even more nauseous and I don’t really dwell on sites that are openly racist towards my race or others
@Fiffy: Also, you have the same people going up and down commenting the same stuff over and over again. A theory comes up, the next thread it’s taken as gospel and I’m like huh??
These guys can’t even compliment Meghan without trashing Kate.
And just out of curiosity, the common wealth countries that M and H are supposedly so popular at, are they European ones? Bc our media barely reports on them.
I don’t think they’re European ones because the only CM countries in Europe are Cyprus and Malta. I live in Britain and there aren’t any obvious negative feelings towards any of them. They show up in mainstream media (by that I mean BBC, ITV,) when something big happens like a birth or wedding. Britain’s in kind of a conundrum with the Prime Minister resigning and Brexit so it’s understandable.
I agree with the theories being taken as gospel though. You can’t just pick what you choose to believe from rumours. There is disgusting commentary directed at Meghan and I definitely don’t condone them but you can’t counteract them by believing rumours about people you don’t like.
It’s a shame the way tabloids report her. I can’t imagine. But here, they never miss a negative DM story and in order to compensate for the negativity, they pile on Kate. Which is not really needed, Meghan’s great on her own.
I live in South Africa. We are a CW country as well, but I could never say they are popular. Not any of the royal are. And it’s not that they are hated, they are just not on people’s radars.
Meghan and Harry are very popular in my country, and Meghan’s adopted country, Canada. Kate and William, not so much.
@Fiffy: Then don’t read these comments. There, all fixed.
Then I am happy to know that they have you and your country to offset the tabloids’ negativity.
I enjoy reading articles on here about them and like reading the discussion in the comments. I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable for me to comment on the general tone of them.
I mean, if you don’t like the overall tone of the comments, don’t read them. I stopped commenting at WKW because I couldn’t handle more comments praising Kate’s latest coat dress and slamming M for breathing.
I’ll say though, I think many of us are long time royal followers. When I say I think Kate has a problem with working, it’s not bc I read one article on CB. It’s because I have followed
Kate for years and yeah, she doesn’t work.
This site has become so pro-Harry/Meghan and anti Will/Kate. It’s strange for adults to slot people into the saint/sinner slots. There’s no real discussion of worth here anymore.
Agreed, and predictable!!
This site is not anti Kate. I am so glad about the positive M&H reporting, unlike most other sites . If you do not like it, move along.
Oh, the vehemently pro-W&K adults who fail to recognize this site has been rightfully critical of them for years before Meghan showed up?
Plenty of other pro-W&K, anti-Meghan sites for you to visit.
Based on history, I thought having affairs did qualify as “kingly behavior!”
I can see where their working together wouldn’t work out well due to the different charitable preferences each couple seems to have made.
You really have a knack for finding the most sinister picture of Kate to use for an article!
I hope we’ll see some baby pictures soon. Little Archie is probably out of the lumpy newborn phase and starting to develop his own features. I’m sure he’s going to be adorable!
Completely off topic, but Kate looks so healthy and pretty in this picture! Having some of that baby weight does her good.
She is underweight typically, which has become painfully obvious. I don’t get why we as a society can criticize others for being overweight, but when a comment is made about being underweight, we aren’t allowed to do so. I am not shaming, I only want her to look healthy and she looked far healthier before the wedding.
I saw her when they came to Victoria (Vancouver Island) and she truly is a bone-rack. Startlingly thin. And before I get flamed for body-shaming my sister died of eating disorders and Kate is walking a tightrope vis-a-vis her weight.
I wonder whether she has an eating disorder or has just bought into the “you can never be too thin” idea? She always looks terribly thin in photographs, and since the camera adds ten pounds, she must be just skin and bones.
FINALLY, let Meghan and Harry shine!
I blame Dull Bill. Sure, it’s more complicated than that, but please do note the following:
How many photo ops has the Queen engaged with him lately? Hmm? Uh, exactly zero. But she’s taken great pains to be photographed not only with Kate, but with Harry, Meghan, Meghan’s mum – *with* the ever irascible Prince Philip. Now, Philip coming out of his nap for a photo op with the American Duchess and her mother to see his new great grandchild was the real coup. After all: How many other great grandchildren got a global photo op with the ol’ man? Hmmm? Uh, exactly zero.
That photo op with Archie and the gang was a clear message from high above. “I’m the sitting Monarch and I approve this message.”
Here’s what she doesn’t approve of: Dull Bill’s philandering, which is now out of the bag and the potential damage to the throne of England. Something tells me he got a private ass-chewing from Her Majesty the Queen, who then went to look at flowers with Kate as a show of support.
So, something tells me that Dull Bill’s in the doghouse with the Queen and the Crown Prince right now. But alas, as the eventual King of England the establishment *has* to deal with him, even though he’s showing himself to be a philanderer and an all around grade A asshole. So, slow your roll there, Bill, you’ve got at least another 20 years before Prince Charles even begins to think about either dying or retiring. All this “King” talk is way too premature.