There are a handful of milquetoast royal stories percolating today, and I have no idea if any of them will turn into something. The Sussexes and Cambridges split up their foundation and everything is still being formalized. We still don’t know for sure whether the Sussexes are really going to call their new foundation something like “SussexRoyal.” But we do know that the Cambridges have officially removed the Sussexes from their foundation:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s charity has removed Harry and Meghan from its title, marking a final step in the split between the two couples. Documents published by Companies House today show William and Kate’s foundation is now just called ‘The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’.
It follows Harry and Meghan’s decision to move out of Kensington Palace, where William and Kate are based, and set up their own Sussex Royal foundation. The move sparked reports of a rift growing among the so-called ‘fab four’, first between the two Duchesses, then future king William and his younger brother Harry.
I like how the Mail (and other outlets) continue to frame everything as “Harry and Meghan decided to walk away from Will and Kate,” which… is not the whole story. I do think the Sussexes decided to walk away, but they had good cause, as we can still see today. Will and Kate were constantly undermining the Sussexes. Now the Cambridges are still undermining the Sussexes, but at least they’re not sharing an office or a foundation anymore.
There was also this interesting little story…
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wanted to move in with his grandparents and set up home in Windsor Castle, reports say. It’s claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex asked the Queen if living quarters in the historic castle could be made available for them after they were married but the answer was a firm ‘no’,so they went on to renovate Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of the estate. The five-bedroom cottage was given an extensive makeover recently, costing the taxpayer an estimated £2.4million.
Windsor Castle is the Queen’s official residence over Easter and June and she spends most of her weekends there as well. Hugo Vickers, a royal author and a deputy lord lieutenant of Berkshire, told The Times: “There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things. But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”
My first thought was… why not? Why not move into one of the Windsor Castle apartments, if some of them are open and available? My guess is that the Queen thought it would seem too much like she was “giving” the Sussexes the whole castle or something. But Her Maj really screwed up with the Sussexes’ living arrangements anyway – she should have given them a property or apartment as soon as they were married. She should have given them their own Kensington Palace apartment, honestly. And I still don’t know why they can’t have one now.
There are also a handful of stories this week in the lower-tier British tabloids about how Harry doesn’t “want to be royal” anymore, and how he and Meghan are truly thinking about living part-time outside of the UK. These are part of the “coming and going” stories for the British tabloids – if Harry and Meghan stay in the UK, the press gets to continue to abuse them on a daily basis. If they complain about the abuse, the press will mock them. If the Sussexes leave the UK, however temporarily, all hell will break loose and the tabloids will not stop until they set fire to Frogmore Cottage.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, Avalon Red.
I thought they didn’t want a KP apartment and wanted to live in Windsor full time but I could be wrong.
Does anyone besides TQ have permanent apartments within the castles that aren’t in London?
Good question Enn, I am curious too.
As far as I knew Windsor Castle hasn’t been like Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, or St James Palace where various royals (other than the Queen and Phillip) live in apartments within the structure. I thought the other royals who live in Windsor generally live in freestanding buildings like Frogmore Cottage or Royal Lodge.
Back in the day, the children of the monarch had individual apartments but they typically moved out when they married/came of age. I know back in Victoria’s day, one or two of her children had apartments there even after getting married but that’s in part because she liked having her daughters around her.
For some reason, it’s the Queen’s private sanctuary and no other royals currently live there. It’s apparently her favorite home after Balmoral. She much prefers it to Buckingham Palace which all the royals are said to hate. (It’s drafty and not homey.) I can sort of see why she wouldn’t want her grandson or anyone else for that matter moving in. You want to just be able to kick back in your jammies while having a cuppa.
Yup the Gloucester we’re already remodeling parts of their apartment for more privacy even though they are moving out (or moved out it was supposed to be this summer). The updates were supposedly for Harry and his family. He turned it down because he wanted space after the War of the Wales 2.0 began
Does it not strike anyone else as odd to be wishing the Queen of England had given her super rich adult grandchildren a more luxurious home?
Living in Windsor means cosing up to the Queen. She must not show such obvious preference to any member of the Royal Family. It wasn’t that clever of Harry to ask.
Windsor castle is 30-40 km outside London (depends how you measure it) which means that Harry and Meghan would have demanded frequent heli flights as a lot of royal engagements are in London (greater London population is about 10 Mio people and Britain has a population of about 66 Mio).
You know Kaiser, living in Windsor might not be ideal. In a large castle dating deeply into history, are your bathrooms, kitchen, air conditioning, wi-fi state of the art? It might be dingy and the Queen thought Frogmore with a full update personalized for their own family. Their is nothing like customizing your own home, closets, kitchen, picking out your fixtures colors. Their ‘new’ old house is no doubt beautiful. I can’t wait to see interior pictures as I know you also will love.
The last major update was after the fire in 1992 so yep, the individual apartments likely need updating. They might not have been allowed to choose the fixtures the way they could at Frogmore. And honestly, they’d have more private at Frog Cott.
No, I don’t believe it.
Yep they didn’t want to move into WC nor did they ask to. This is just another attempt to make us think that Meghan is “uppity” doesn’t know her place etc.
Me neither. With Meghan on leave, there’s not a lot to talk about, so they have to jump on every little thing – or just make stuff up.
Why not leave? Philip left for months under the pretense of duties….it was his way of rebelling at the time and he was/is the consort.
Harry wants a private life, it’s obvious. I think Meghan wants the limelight much more. Harry is lucky he is the second son, he should move his family out of UK for at least six months, get a breather from the media and from the criticism he is partly to blame.
Why should he move his family away from his home because of the media? That don’t even make sense…MSM is gonna do whatever they want anyway…whether they’re in GB or in another galaxy…so HOW is he to blame for that? And I LOVE how folks are saying what Meghan wants…without being….
Meghan….
I think it’s fair to say Meghan enjoys the limelight given that she was a TV actress. Love of the craft might have played a part of course but let’s not pretend fame was not in her mind as well. Pretending that Harry does not enjoy it is downright laughable tough. He loves being famous, just like his mama and pretty much every other member of his trash family.
@sarah this is all conjecture on your side. It is not fair to say she likes the limelight and that fame was on her mind. That is the negative spin some are feeding and would have you believe; and you have fallen for it hook line and sinker.
In fairness people are always on here claiming this is what Harry, Kate, William want too. It’s all a guessing game based on things we see them do. We don’t know these people and we could all be massively wrong on all of it.
That being said I don’t know why leaving the country would change anything. It’s kind of insulting to Africa to think they don’t have media down there too, and it won’t just continue if they move. Now if you want to get rid of the you are the monarchy wasting taxpayer money, you can stop being a working royal and taking the money. Which I wouldn’t blame them if they did eventually, but I think they are going to try to stay in the firm and see how it works out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually do decide to just be philanthropists. It would give them more freedom and when his father becomes King and most likely downsizes the monarchy Harry’s actions would help him.
I think it’s fair to assume that Meghan is attracted to the limelight and I don’t think that has to be a negative thing. Lots of people are even though they won’t admit it. She was an actress and had a blog documenting her rise.
There is lots of assuming with all of these stories about what all of the royals are thinking and doing. People back their favourite and don’t want to hear anything else.
I totally side eye the queen putting Meghan and Harry in Frogmore cottage. It cost so much to renovate which to be completely honest could have been done more cheaply. You could build a new 5 bed house for less. I’m sure the queen could have found something that would have made tax payers a little less angry about the insane spending
Harry should have purchased his own home, imo.
Could the renovations have been done more cheaply? People freaked out about that price tag, but honestly, for quality work on an historical property, the $3 million seemed right, if not low. My understanding, which is imperfect but based on talking to construction workers and some amateur reading, is that most new luxury housing construction is garbage. It looks big, spacey, and impressive and isn’t going to last.
Good work costs money. When it comes to historical properties in a society ravaged by short-term profit-seeking, the historian in me does not begrudge a penny spent updating and preserving places like Frogmore so future generations can appreciate them.
When the rest of the Royals purchase their own homes Harry will follow.
Yeah sure @Jinje, lets all crap on Harry and his black wife and demand they give up their titles because they want some privacy. Meanwhile ALL the other royals do demand privacy and they’re left alone and nobody ever demands that they should give up their titles. The double standards and thinly veiled overt biases never cease to amaze me.
Prince William and Kate had the same problem with their demands for privacy.
They were pictured on a balcony sunning themselves and Kate was topless and this happened during the London Olympic games where Kate and William were supposed to do some ambassador-ing. No privacy for them either. Kate received a lot of flag for her lazyness and her button love and her spending on clothes which is less (for more clothes) than what Meghan spends. Kate was heavily criticised for not being able to deliver speeches and for asking dumb questions. So both Meghan and Kate got and get panned down. The double standards and thinly veiled overt biases never cease to amaze me.
Social spending and spending on schools is cut while wages don’t rise but prices do. In such times it is only appropriate to inquire why Britain has to spend nearly Pounds 100 million on the Royal Family who barely ever justifies what they do or if they do anything at all and you are not supposed to ask what they do.
Yep, criticising Royals – same as politicians – is part of a democracy and it is part of liberty and free citizens’ rights.
Building a new nice 4-bedroom family home is about 300.000 – 400.000 Euros plus price for the land. Building something twice or thrice that size doesn’t costs twice or thrice the price cause just building a room double as big doesn’t cost double.
so yes, Pounds 3 Mio is definitely overpriced for renovations of a moderately sized place. I suspect they did cream off some of that money. As did the Cambridges with their Pounds 3 Mio renovation of their apartment.
Inform yourself about costs of building construction and you will find out.
Well said. You cannot allow yourself to be supported by public money then shut out the public claiming to want privacy. If Harry really wants to be ‘private’ and do whatever he wants, he ALWAYS has the option to return his title, get off the civil list and lead his life as he wishes. But we all know he is not going to do that because everything he holds dear and important is by virtue of his title and in fairness to him, the only life he has known. Princess Anne refused the Queen’s offer of titles for her children hence Zarah and Peter are able to live their lives with minimal scrutiny. Princess Beatrice’s husband did not want a title either. Princess Margaret demanded to marry whomever she wanted until she was told she had to give up all the trappings of the royal life and then she balked. Harry is aware the institution can have everything taken away from him just as Princess Margaret was read the riot act. The Queen herself delivered the news to her sister – she’s done it before, she can do it again. She is Queen – above all else. The monarchy is as old as the country and a law unto itself run by people according to age old rules. Anyone who thinks they can tell a centuries old institution, what to do is confused.
@Jinjie how have the public been shut out?We’ve seen their wedding including backstage footage on Instagram, backstage pics from their Australasia tour, Harry did that impromptu interview when Archie was born, they did baby reveal and interview 2/3 days and then released pic of the Queen and Prince Philip meeting Archie for first time. Recently seen BTS shoot with Meghan’s patronage SmartWorks. They also engaged with public asking them for suggestions on which charities to highlight on their Instagram. Meghan has done some impromptu walkabouts at her solo engagements which some long time royal fans said they hadn’t seen as much since Diana days. Seems to me they are very accessible to the public.
It’s only reporters who aren’t getting off the record chats with the couple who have been shut out.
Some royal commentators have been gross on British talk shows suggesting that Andrew was taken “advantage of” by Epstein and that’s the concern with the Sussexes celeb friends and think one suggested on SM that the pic with Virginia had been faked. That’s why it’s great US investigators are specifically calling out Andrew so this can’t be brushed under the carpet. The first time these accusations came around on Andrew, UK press seemed to allow themselves to be stonewalled and didn’t press for answers.
@Jinjie why should Harry in particular renounce his title? When we have an accused molester of young women in the RF? Your focus strikes me as misplaced.
Yeah I don’t see the big deal here. I’m sure royals have lived there over the years.
Nottingham Cottage was a bit cozy as royal residences go, and certainly tiny compared to the Cambridges’ swanky spread. But for a newly married couple with no kids yet, it seemed kind of cute as a starter. So I’m not that annoyed with the Queen not giving them a bigger residence right away. Plus there was talk of them spending a lot of time in the Cotswolds anyway.
You do know that plans were drawn up to renovate Frogmore Cottage before the wedding.
Common sense would tell you if they move from Kensington Palace compound, why would they want to live in the same building as the queen.
Cotswolds did not work out, due to peeping Toms from helicopters.
I’d pick an apartment in Windsor too. It’s gorgeous. But I’m going to guess they didn’t ask for Windsor, they probably asked for a Frogmore House. It’s also gorgeous and stately and is used for hosting and other events, such as the wedding reception of Sussexes and Brooksbanks. I’m guessing there’s some administrative offices there and an apartment would not have been ideal. Also because of security reasons they had to choose a property HM owns, correct? It’s not as though they could choose a condo. Have you seen the homes that Princess Ann, Andy and Edward reside in? They are huge!! They look more like Frogmore House than Frogmore Cottage. The cottage is a speck in comparison. But who knows? Maybe they really wanted the cottage.
Anyway, I wanted to bring up an article by Elizabeth Day in YOU magazine. She’s a Brit writer who clearly states that Shout! was a concept brought to the KP foundation by Meghan based on the one in LA. She writes that Meghan is credited with “setting up a crisis texting service for those with mental health issues”. Her article underscores ( as we all assumed back then) that Prince Baldy stole the Sussexes thunder when he announced that the texting service went online. At the time the head of it said that Meg and Harry had worked on it and put pics of them on insta. The Cambridges did little but Will not took credit by announcing. Another example of the Cambridges effing the Sussexes over. No one should even question why DDoS separated themselves from the Cambridges.
I thought this was an old story I had heard about a while ago? Also, one thing I have noticed it seems like the tabloids are now doing a bit more blame Harry than Meghan on these crazy stories, at least to me. Honestly, that is a very tiny step in the right direction, cause if any of this is true, which I seriously doubt, it is coming from Harry. Can you imagine, being a newlywed and asking your husband’s grandmother for anything? The person asking has always been Harry not Meghan, but the sexist society always blames the women, even on the fake stories.
Two other things, honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to give up being royal. It doesn’t seem like it’s all it’s cracked up to be, and being philanthropist with legitimate causes who can speak up loudly seems more in their wheelhouse and would probably do a lot more good in the world. Plus you get the added bonus of defending yourself with the media and not through other friends. Not sure how that would work though, and really not sure why they have to move away to another country to do that though. I understand the desire though.
Finally, did anyone see the pictures of the place the Sussexes supposedly stayed in Ibiza? That place was gorgeous, and if I had the opportunity to stay there I would too. I mean I thought Ibiza had gotten a bit too commercial, but that place was amazing. Call me crazy, but the whole monarchy is spoiled rich, and I prefer talking about the grandious vacations, the clothes and all that stuff to this. To me this story is getting really old and just plain mean.
Meghan cannot legally leave the UK for more than x number of days for iirc two years.
All the speculation and reports about Africa and America are all very entertaining but Meghan cannot live elsewhere till she becomes a British citizen.
The Queen is awful tough, just like her racist husband. I don’t know why the Sussexes wanted to live the Do-Littles behind only to have the pedophile protecting queen and her husband as neighbor. I question the sanity of anyone who wants to live close to them frankly.
As much as I like them together, I won’t blame Meghan a bit if one day she can’t handle it anymore and leaves. What I’d really love is for Harry to follow her.
That would make a great movie!
Keep waiting.
One thing, I disagree with the suggestion that Harry and Meghan walked away from Will and Kate. I think it was Will and Kate who gave Harry and Meg the public boot right in the middle of the Pacific tour. After reading about the split I remember thinking ‘whaaaa??!’
🤔
👑🥾
🌹🌹🌹🌹
🥀🥀🥀
Oh and I believe Windsor Castle was one of several suggestions put forward by the couple’s representatives as options for a residence. Well of course if you suggest four options and pick one that means three were rejected. So duh. This is not an issue. I take offense at the insinuation that there are apartments that are move in ready and the queen rejected it. Her staff is making these decisions and we are not aware of all the assumptions to be considered.
I highly doubt this is true. Harry and Meghan have shown again and again that they want to live a relatively private life with Archie. Moving into Windsor Castle would be the opposite of that.
It’s been confirmed by even pro-Sussex reporters (like Omid) that at one point they were lobbying for their own court, separate from not only KP but also BP and CH. I can see this request coming around then. Even though there are other royals who live in Windsor, everyone else’s offices are in BP, so they may have seen setting up shop in Windsor as a way to differentiate themselves (we’re the Windsor castle royals). Ultimately, of course, the Queen decided to give them much the same setup as the other non-heir working royals, residence in Windsor, offices in BP. I also believe the stories that apt 1 in KP was being readied for them, the timing of renovations lines up and the Gloucesters have since moved out. I think when they decided they didn’t want to live next to W&K there was a bit of a scramble to find suitable housing for them and FC was what was come up with.
The apt in KP would not have been ready before Archie was born and they needed the space well before then. Plans were submitted in the autumn of 2018 to renovate Frogmore cottage and so it was decided months before Emily Andrews put out that first report about Frogmore.
Where do the Sussex family stay while in London?
I don’t think they need to since Windsor is only about 23 miles from London.
I didn’t think about how close Windsor is to London. Should have, that being her weekend getaway.
They will have a suite at Buckingham Palace, according to sources who are known to be unreliable.
I agree, Lolo. The timing of the renovation of Apt 1-A started right after they moved into Nottingham cottage, and in the same month, the Gloucesters announced they were moving out of 1-A later that year. It seems clear, going by the timings, that they were supposed to move into 1-A. Then the sudden announcement that they were leaving KP was in the following Autumn, so I reckon whatever happened to make them change their plans happened sometime that Autumn.
My question is why didn’t the Queen give them a nicer house, one that didn’t need so much expensive work to be done to it? There were articles way back saying that they were headed to Adelaide Cottage, a lovely, fairytale place in the grounds of Windsor that was already a one-family residence and so wouldn’t need walss, ceilings and floors being ripped out and replaced. Would have been perfect for them.
I sometimes wonder if the Queen may have thrown them under the bus by gifting them Frogmore. She (or her advisers) must have realised it would cost an arm and a leg to make it into a one-family residence and that that cost would rile up the taxpayer. The two of them now have a “spendthrift” reputation from just Frogmore alone, one that they could have avoided if they were just given a house that wasn’t divided up into servants’ apartments. I really think the Queen did them a disservice there, and put them in a position where they’d be blamed for the costs, when if she’d just given them a proper house, they would have avoided all that criticism.
I could be wrong, but I thought that Frogmore was going to be renovated no matter what. Maybe H&M liked it better.
Yes Frogmore was on schedule of Crown Estate properties that was going to be renovated anyway regardless. Queen is given money from Crown Estate profits to keep properties up to date& it was FC’s turn. The press acted like reno was specifically for the Sussexes to bully the Sussexes to allow press presence at the christening. Think press did similar with £4m reno for Kensington Palace & think they were placated with pap walk at Charlottes christening.
I don’t believe this story really- think it’s another “Meghan doesn’t know her place” piece- she wants to live as grand as the Queen! Point about Harry and Meghan not knowing their place was highlighted in this Daily Beast article from last month and updated today. It talked about how Meghan is gift that keeps on giving for editors and uk media is leading the hatred. Article suggested Harry won’t want Meghan to endure this negativity forever after what happened to his mother. obviously their health and happiness has to be paramount and I hope they have an exit plan if things don’t improve and she keeps US citizenship.
Selfishly though wouldn’t want the bad guys to win and negative treatment to drive them out of the BRF. Plus Meghan would get blamed if Harry left the BRF- they already and disgustingly try to dub her new Wallis Simpson.
The thing about the cost of the Frogmore reno, OK, I know it is not cheap, but as of now it is the SOLE residence of the Sussexes.
Unlike the Cambridges who have the Kensington Palace apartment (also $$ reno costs) AND their country house in Norfolk, Anmer Hall (again, $$ reno costs).
It seems like this is never taken into account? That the Cambridges get TWO pricey residences, town and country, and the Sussexes have only residence?
Well, the Cambridges are the future King and Queen and the Sussexes are the future Andrew and Sarah. Insignificant in another 5 years and completely invisible in another 10-15. You do understand that the concept of monarchy is rooted in hierarchy? It is a winner-takes-all kind of arrangement.
@mia
No Meghan and Harry are not the future Sarah and Andrew.
Meghan is 38 yrs old, started working at thirteen, there has never been a story about her living beyond her means and looking for handouts.
Harry knew from birth that he was not going to be King, so he is not walking puffing up himself, because he was born Royal.
Harry and Meghan should be insignificant now, what is going to change in 5 years.
For your sake I hope the monarchy is still around after Charles, so you can say told you so.
I meant that metaphorically. What I mean is that the next heir gets it all and the rest get what is handed out to them. I know that people here hate the Cambridges but the truth is that they are the heirs. Harry and Meghan are not and so they are never going to be treated the same. Sadly.
If…if the monarchy survives.
Several people further lower in the succession have two residences. Anne has Gatcombe and a townhouse in Saint James Palace. Andrew has a suite at Buckingham Palace and massive Royal Lodge Windsor. Edward has a double suite at Buckingham Palace and massive Bagshot Park. Princess Alexandra has apartments at SJP and Thatched Lodge. Harry and Meghan with Frogmore Cottage is far less than others further down the line are using.
All the royal renovations sound ridiculously priced to me. Now if I was a taxpayer paying for it, yeah I’d probably complain. However, being a yank I don’t care it’s your deal Britain have fun with it.
There were rumors about the Gloucesters for years, but never any official announcement. The only official thing we’ve seen was in recent budget papers about renovating Old Stables house for them. Given they are retirement age and their kids are grown, they might want to downsize. IDK which building is Old Stables. There are several buildings next to Ivy Cottage, Wren Cottage, and Nottingham Cottage that are never labeled in maps of royal apartments. It might be one of those.
With the interior connecting doors with Apartment 1A? We might see W&K expand into Apartment 1.
With Windsor, there weren’t many options. Adelaide Cottage, York Cottage. They may be more public , weren’t already on the list of places to be refurbished, etc.
Frogmore House would meant even more criticism then Frogmore Cottage. There is a smaller cottage, Garden House, where HM’s cousin Margaret Rhodes used to live. I do not know where that is located in Windsor Great Park, but it might have been too small for a growing family, too public, or both.
Anybody see the press conference with some of Epstein’s victims just now? The officials were saying that Prince Andrew can come and speak to them. He’s going to have to account for that picture with Virginia. This isn’t going away and I couldn’t be happier
Rogue he’s going to have to account for more than a mere photo. According to Virginia she was forced to have sex with him 3 tines!!!
Today’s article only mentions once, in London when she was 17, but I read elsewhere that there were other instances in the US…
The court docs say 3 times. One in Epstein’s Manhattan apartment, one in London, one on Epstein’s Carribean Island which I believe is part of the US Virgin Islands. The problem is if you read the court docs she claimed Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew. She doesn’t say Andrew forced her. The problem with this and it sounds gross, if you are a sex worker and forced to be with someone by your pimp Epstein the client in this case Andrew may not know this. It’s not like she’s going to scream I’m being forced to do this, she would be hurt more. Plus there are women who do go to these type of parties just to have sex with powerful rich men. I’m sure Andrew has attended several of those types of parties too. Unless it was known to Andrew and others it could just seem like a big sex party, which do exist. From what I read of the court docs she doesn’t know for sure what any of the men who partake in this knew, except Epstein and his “girlfriend. ” Aside from the fact that the earlier case with Virginia was settled for a measly punishment and seems a bit shady, they didn’t really have anything on the men who attended them, just Epstein. Also, keep in mind she was 17 almost 18, and if she wasn’t forced that would be the legal age of consent in the places she was. I kind of think that was on purpose by Epstein to be honest. I know people want to see punishment of the perpetrators, but in this case it seems tough to get. I mean we can sully their good names, but it’s not like they had good names to begin with. This is old news and should have gotten more publicity during the 2007 court case, but at least it gets some now. I hope they at least get the girlfriend, she lured these girls into this, and she should definitely get some time.
Andrew was friends with Epstein for years and cannot reasonably pretend he was unaware of the sex trafficking going on. The standard a court would apply is whether or not a reasonable person would be unaware that the girls were sex trafficking victims. Andrew can’t pretend he didn’t know by the second time much less the third time.
Also, please stop with the age of consent stuff it’s legally incorrect and ignores the sex trafficking which makes any issues about age irrelevant.
Enforced prostitution is always a crime. So is coercion and all that.
Additionally Giuffre was a minor. Double the crime. Age of consent for consensual sexual intercourse is irrelevant here as it wasn’t consensual.
I get the impression that Epstein didn’t just like very young girls but he would have liked to rape children. He probably knew he wouldn’t get away with it so he did chose teenagers in early puberty. Early puberty means that the body has started to develop but isn’t fully womanly. It is just repellent.
Prince Andrew is a member of the Royal Family who have some kind of government officials status and the latter should and do get punished harder for certain crimes as they are supposed to be model citizens. Same as lawyers or judges or police officer. For example a person with a criminal record can’t become a police officer. Stricter rules.
There are rumors on the internet about pics which show Prince Andrew in medias res with Giuffre.
I hope the Queen has good advisors as not only is this Andrew thing a mess but UK is facing constitutional crisis with Boris Johnson allegedly asking her to suspend parliament. She would be only 2nd monarch- after Charles I and we know what happened with him. Crazy times
I hope she refuses and he is only doing this to stave off a Corbyn led challenge to force legislation on a no deal however Corbyn doesn’t really have the numbers or support to pull it off. Johnson is running down the clock against the EU and its not going to end well.
Corbyn is only ‘leading’ on this as he see’s it as an opportunity to worm his way into No 10 as a ‘caretaker’ PM. Like the Labour leadership, once he’s in he won’t leave. He wants a No Deal always has. He deluded if he thinks he’s going to win, only hard core Labour supporters will vote for him. The polls consistently show him to be unpopular with the general populace across the country. Corbyn and Johnson are 2 peas in a pod both will say and do anything to get the top job.
@DU I don’t think she can refuse? I think it’s up to the MPs to do vote of no confidence in Boris’s government to stop this move.
@Kenny back to shallow royal matters for a second- not sure Kate’s topless pic row is example of privacy demand causing problems with the press. She was on private estate not a public beach and had reasonable expectation of privacy when sunbathing so that’s why the Cambridges won the case. Also the UK press didn’t publish the pictures.
I’ve not seen Kate’s love of buttons or speeches be mocked by the press- seems that’s on gossip sites or social media. I do think Middletons have faced snobbery in the press and I hate that plus fact that sexism and misogyny means royal women face more scrutiny and criticism on looks etc then the men. But Meghan has faced more vitriol. Even republican papers like the Guardian have called it out and anti monarchy commentators are calling out the double standards. Kate had the prime minister and royal journos defend her. Meghan will have none of that.
Living in Windsor Castle might look too much like Harry was being favoured over William.
On a personal level, I can totally see Harry wanting to live with his Nan and that being welcomed, but in terms of the family business of being royal figureheads, they can’t give the impression that the monarch likes the 4th-in-line heir better than the 2nd-in-line heir.