The official story from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace was that they had NO IDEA that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were about to make this sudden announcement about stepping away from their positions as “senior royals.” People Magazine has a piece about how the Sussex announcement “came as a surprise to Queen Elizabeth” and that “Prince Charles and Prince William were caught off guard by the release of the couple’s statement on Wednesday.” A source told People: “There is a lot of hurt about this,” and that all of this was “so avoidable.” I agree, much of this was avoidable if only Charles, William and the Queen had supported Meghan and Harry. What seems to be false about People Mag’s timeline – and everyone else’s timeline – is that the Sussexes dropped this news without any warning whatsoever. Allow the Evening Standard to break it down:
Prince Harry defied clear instructions from the Queen not to announce that he and Meghan are to quit as “senior” royals, the Evening Standard has been told. The Queen made it clear to her grandson that he should not proceed with any announcement this week about his future after he requested a meeting with her at Sandringham, according to senior sources.
The Duke of Sussex’s apparent refusal to comply with an explicit request from the head of the royal family will help to explain the unprecedented expressions of “hurt” and “disappointment” from the palace over last night’s statement. The Standard has also been told that Prince William tried to build bridges with his brother in the autumn shortly after the airing of an ITV documentary about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in October. It is understood that William wanted to visit Harry at his Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, but the meeting never happened.
It is understood that:
Harry originally contacted Prince Charles about spending more time in Canada and America just before Christmas, but was told he needed to come up with a thought-out plan. Harry sent a draft proposal about his future role to his father early in the New Year but was again informed that more time was needed to think through the complex implications, particularly over funding.
Harry asked for a summit with the Queen at Sandringham as soon as he, Meghan and their son Archie, arrived back from their long Christmas break in Canada at the weekend. He was told that while the Queen was happy to meet him, she would not discuss his wishlist before he had discussed it in detail with his father. The planned meeting was blocked by courtiers, but the Queen made it clear to Harry that he should not go public about his future plans at this time.
Prince Charles and Prince William, the next two in the line of succession, were only sent a copy of Harry and Meghan’s statement “10 minutes” before it was released and without any further consultation.
Senior courtiers have warned that “Harry and Meghan will be punished for this”.
Oh ho ho. Well that’s something, isn’t it? I knew that the whole “the Queen didn’t know a thing!” story was f–king bullsh-t. Harry and Meghan were trying to do this the “right way,” the proper way, with plans and meetings and negotiations, but they were pushed aside and slow-walked and ignored. And then someone – probably in BP – decided to leak the information and that’s when the Sussexes pulled the trigger.
Also: “Senior members of the royal family have gathered at Kensington Palace to celebrate the Duchess of Cambridge’s 38th birthday amid an ongoing crisis after Prince Harry and Meghan’s bombshell announcement last night,” per the Daily Mail. I think Will & Kate were called back to London because of all of this – they likely planned to spend this entire week lounging around Anmer Hall. Now the DM says that “there are expected to be crisis talks today among the most senior family members, who are said to be ‘incandescent with rage’ after learning about the announcement minutes before it broke on TV channels last night.” That just reminds me that Prince Andrew also did crisis talks in Buckingham Palace after Jeffrey Epstein’s mysterious death. Hahaha.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
Of course they are having crisis talks. I think someone there realizes how bad this makes them look.
And it sounds like Harry was being given the run-around – “okay, here’s my plan. Okay, I’ll talk it over with Granny. Okay, I’ll talk it over with Pa. Why cant I get in touch with Pa? Wait, someone told William and now Dan Wootten has it? Okay, eff it. I’m going public.”
Pretty much and I don’t blame Harry. They wanted to brush him.aside and hope he went away or that they could talk him out of it. After the leak he said deuces.
Having gone through something similar with a former employer that left me severely traumatized, I can assure you that those sidelining and stonewalling tactics are exactly what they did to Harry when he desperately tried to plead his family for support with the press. Harry wasn’t just hoping for support, he had directly begged for it and was giving the runaround with TQ saying he needed to speak to his father first, and his father telling him he will meet with TQ to discuss the situation and never get back to Harry. Harry would be the one to keep calling him when he doesn’t hear back from his father, and Harry would be told that the issue is being discussed and be asked to wait for them to come up with a viable plan as this is a complex situation. When Harry became more and more desperate, losing his patience and start demanding a response, the courtiers would be made to be the bad guys.
By then, Meghan would’ve been the one who finally realized that they were being played since Harry would likely have been in denial, refusing to believe that his beloved grandmother would do this to him. Once that realization kicked in, it must’ve been a dagger to the heart far more painful than William’s betrayal.
Once Harry came to grip with that reality, he knew he must now take matters in his own hands to protect his family, feeling morally justified to prioritize their needs over that of the RF’s who clearly didn’t give a crap about their well-being. This lead to the ITV documentary, which was a cry for public support with their court battle with the press, not a cry for help from the RF. That bridge was being burned.
It is that experience of being stonewalled that lead the Sussexes this time around to go by their own timetable. They weren’t about to be played twice.
Fab, you nailed it. Absolutely nailed it.
I’m so much more angry on Hazza and Meg’s behalf than I was yesterday.
And that much more convinced that they should move from “low contact” when they move on to “no contact” – though I don’t know UK law on this, that might not be possible for them for legal reasons…
Certainly they don’t owe any personal attentions to the senior RF members after this. Her Maj and HIS OWN FATHER AND BROTHER, my GODS – have treated them abominably.
Poor Harry must feel like an orphan right now.
@Fabuleuse15 Yes, I think you’re right on. All of this false concern and pearl clutching is too little, too late.
Just as an aside, legally the Queen has custody over their child (as with all her grandchildren). This has to do with succession rights, even though he is not in direct line of succession. So, if the Queen were to play hard ball, it could get very ugly.
Part of the problem is the palace policy on how to deal with a toxic press, and just how toxic the British press has been. Both are being critized for doing one thing but not the other, and then again critized if they then do exactly that. There is no win for them there.
We should not forget, they are young, not married for long with a small child. They did not have a lot of time to spend time as a family. The queen herself had the chance to spend the first year after her marriage living on Malta and get to know her husband with little oversight from the press (especially compared to what Harry and Meghan are subjected to).
So, to them, the only possible solution is to step away from all of it and possibly leave the country.
The Crown loses any bid to claim custody over Archie if Harry renounces his place in the succession, IIRC.
If you don’t think he’s willing to put that on the table, to defend his child from the press…
Attrition policy. What a lovely family.
I’m with you, Becks. They were given a run-a-round, and had enough. They didn’t want to jump on the merry-go-round only to be told to not get on the horses, just grab the pole and stand and wait.
I think K & Wandering Wilie were already back in London though, as the kids went back to school. And I DO love the fact that H&M released this mic drop the day BEFORE Kate’s birthday. Who’s talking about that now?? lolol. Petty of me…but yeah…I’ll go there 😄
I think the racists (public and RRs) totally underestimated Harry’s determination to not let them bully his wife/son the way they did his mother, including the names they called Diana, hoping to get a reaction-shot for the $$$$. All anyone has to do is look at his little face, following that coffin procession to know what trauma it wrought on him.
As for his family… feh! All it would’ve taken is a few words of support (“What is being said against Duchess of Sussex….”), a picture of H&M with TQ in the car going to church (guess that’s only reserved for Pedos), even a PRIVATE WORD to the Royal Rotas. But no… too much trouble.
Well… you reap what you sow. The Firm will now have 2 gaping holes in their “slimmed down” monarchy.
When a royal says, “I want to quit,” take the damn meeting with them. I don’t know if HM and Charles are arrogant, stupid, or both.
What filthy toerag”that family is. U say your grand/son suffering through his wife being vilified all thru her pregnancy and you never once did crap. U defended a pedophile and hear extension but were probably complicit in harrassing a woman into a miscarriage. That useless family left him no choice. They had no many chances to offer some/any show of support and W&K are garbage too, because I totally believe he was/is in bed with the media
Yes! Just the slightest show of “we may have our issues but on the question of you vs. the harassment by the hideous british press, we have your backs” would have prevented ALL of this. In what world does QE not sympathize with someone being hounded by the press? And then to have her make that effort for Andrew… gross. Just gross. Poor Harry (and Meghan), please come to North America and be appreciated for your style, grace, compassion, and humanity.
“I think someone there realizes how bad this makes them look.”
I actually don’t think that’s the case! I think they’ve thoroughly convinced themselves of the narrative where they’re perfect dutiful royals and the Sussexes are the “bad guys”. I think we’re going to see a lot of ugly behavior coming up and nobody is going to realize the whole world is watching and mostly siding with the Sussexes.
I know, you’re probably right. I always forget how insulated/isolated the royals can be.
I’m beginning to believe William at least won’t be happy until he’s walking behind Meghan’s coffin. Although he’d probably only walk behind Harry’s.
@runcmc & Becks1, I think this makes everyone involved look bad but after all is said and done, Harry & Meghan stand the best chance of coming out on top of this mess with the lesser amount of battle injuries, wounds and scars.
Judging from what I’ve been reading, I think you’re right. The RF believe that they have been wronged and they will do everything in the power to ensure that the public see their *pain*.
yeah, I don’t think the BRF realizes that Harry and Megs are BY FAR the most popular of the royals…actually likeable, which most are not.
and I think that William is PISSED that his “little bro” is more popular, likeable and “married better” than he did. “better” in the sense that people actually like Meghan and feel fondness for her, whereas people think not-so-well of Waity Katie. I think he feels like Harry “showed him up”.
Yep. The bad guys always see themselves as the heros in their story. Psychology 101.
I think the fact that they are way more up in arms about this then they were/are ever going to be about Andrew is pathetic and tells you everything you need to know about them and how they view themselves. They think this will do more damage to the monarchy then Andrew and their standing by him.
You know…the more I am thinking about it the more I am wondering if BP and the Queen’s public support of Pedo Andy while they stayed radio silent about the abuse and bullying Meghan was receiving was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I can see Harry watching QE take her little rides to church with Andy and him thinking, “you’ll do that for HIM but won’t help my wife??” And him thinking “that’s it. I’m done”
I don’t think the RF is smart enough to realize how bad this makes them look. The Queen had to be forced to sideline Andrew only after her gross car ride made the entire world vomit anger at them. I really don’t think Meghan is a super brilliant strategist. I do think she is very smart and asks for help from very very smart people. I think they were given no choice but to go nuclear because the royal family is too dumb to realize how bad bullying the first biracial woman in their family makes them all look. From the KKK level trolling of Princess Michael wearing her slave pin (never would have happened if she thought Meghan was protected) to not stopping the monkey comments about the 7th in line to the throne…they are all to blinded by bigotry and enforced privileged to stop acting like this. And they sold Harry out to bend over backwards for William so he would give them some minor appearance of effort. I hope they enjoy placating William for the next 30 years. They had so much goodwill after Harry’s wedding. But they are a nest of vipers and deserve all of the crap they brought down in themselves. Harry and Meghan will have some rough times, but I think getting out of this mess was the only viable option. And they look like super geniuses compared to their family and the Andrew issues, or the Diana issues, or the Fergie issues, or Princess Margaret issues ….on and on.
Hope they all can see that giant, middle finger. And I’m not even the vindictive type. They did not deserve all that slime directed their way.
Hope they all can see that giant, middle finger…from space…
FTFY.
Don’t worry: they saw pretty well the middle finger. Have you seen the “Star” with the article about H&M?? That’s smelling sooooo strong BP courtiers that you almost can count all those black suits rubbing the hands.
The article is nauseating for someone who follows the RF and don’t spare insults to MM&H. Of course, always putting BP as victims of the nasty couple.
Becks1- that was perfectly said/written.
Exactly.
+++ @Becks1
Interesting that the crisis talks are at Kensington Palace and not Sandringham, Buckingham, or Clarence or wherever the Queen and/or Charles is. Does everyone in the Firm now answer to William?
It seems Kensington Palace have hi jacked the whole damn ship and are now steering it straight into an iceberg.
Well, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and Clarence House are not far from each other. Kensington palace is where quite a few members of the Royal Family have appartments, Buckingham Palace is the Queens residence in London and Clarance House is the residence of the Prince of Wales.
It is certainly a battle for control but part of the issue here would be that the palace wanted to keep this under wraps until the Prince Andrew scandal had been dealt with.
Apart from speculations, there is not much to be said about this as there have been multiple ‘leaks’ in the past from various sources that had not relation to the truth.
@becks – bang on, I think you’re absolutely right
I know we’re supposed to not take “The crown” too literally but.. if there is any percentage of truth to the series then I can easily imagine how this went down. Just look at the cruel game that they played with poor Margaret when she wanted to marry.
Well… the Margaret and Townsend thing is not accurate in the Crown – but I think there are PLENTY of other pieces that are, or are close enough to give us the idea, for sure!
I’m guessing that the upcoming Brexit had something to do with the desire to have an announcement happen before that debacle. I’m sure Meghan and Harry know exactly how disastrous that is going to be. Even if the worst case scenarios of grounded flights, no medicine and food shortages don’t occur, the country will be in shape. The Brexiteers are sure to double down and find scapegoats for their own choices. Once that all starts, it would be hard for the Sussexes to say they want to leave. So it all has to be out in the open now.
Addendum: One thing I really wonder about is what is going to happen when all the retirees in Spain have to come home? Nothing has been done to ensure their pensions can continue to be paid there and their keeping EU health insurance is not a given. So much has been just hand waved away.
I imaging they’ll follow something resembling the American model for expats. The pension is paid directly into the individual’s account and the British health service will come up with some sort of insurance card for travelers/expats that the EU will accept. The people overseas will get the care they need, and the EU will bill the UK for reimbursement.
Lol!! Per NBC news, “the queen sending Charles and William to negotiate with Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan.” Too funny. They like, “we didn’t just try to k*ll the goose that layed the golden egg, did we”?
It is still unclear whether or not Harry left with Meghan. But there are now reports that there were conference calls between The Queen, Charles, William and Harry. This is part of what makes this family dysfunctional. If this is a major crisis they should all be down at BP for face to face talks. Major international companies would have face to face talks. To me it all shows deep disunity and reluctance from all sides to relinquish selfish behaviour.
Alternately, Harry may have asked for that b/c he doesn’t want to be in the same room with any of them right now.
The queen is on her end of the year vacation on Balmoral; Will is “tending” his roses’ garden and Charles is talking to his plants. Everyone is too much busy. Like I said many times: the meeting of the Way Ahead Group took place at the second semester of the last year. For sure Harry was there as son of the heir of the throne, for sure he said clearly he and his wife couldn’t take it anymore from the press mess and the indiference of his own family about it. For sure nothing was decided. For sure the old age plan to exile them was full steam ahead (remember that the rumors about exiling them to Affrica, Canada, moon or Mars started beginning of the last year). For sure the queen knew everything as she is the head of this meeting. For sure the “OPERATION LET’S GET RID OF H&M” was going very well: her TV message didn’t have the pictures of H&M, and don’t talk about that bu***it of “just the heirs”. She always had Harry’s picture on the frames.
They are only raging about it because they didn’t have time to give H&M the ultimate boot. Harry did it before. If he didn’t do, I’m sure they would destroy his reputation in such a way, that H&M would be the laughing stock of the world. You can count on BRF for it.
excellent points.
I just can’t shake the feeling that this is not going to end well…I don’t know why. It feels like they are fighting something they can never win from.
Lenn,
I agree with you, I’m not sure they’re just going to let them walk away. There’s something eery in the air.
I would disagree.
Meghan and Harry regardless of the outcome will be fine.
The Sussexes are not asking to leave and if they were, they can’t “not let them leave.” They’re not in prison and they’re not asking for financial support to support themselves after they leave, so they have no power to hold them back.
What the Sussexes are asking for is to allow them to stay on their own term and the RF now has to negociate with them, whereas they were beign ignored when they asked for support with the media. For them to make this major move, they must 1) know that they have the upper hand, and 2) be willing to walk away if they don’t get what they want. It’s a checkmate.
I personally just love that H&M went from “we’re asking to leave The Firm”, and after basically getting shut down by Her Maj + Chaz, them ending the stalemate with “Ok we’re done asking, WE’RE TELLING YOU. WE’RE OUT”.
It shows how much strength they have, and how far Hazza has come with therapy and the help of a partner who understands the value of setting healthy boundaries with family. They are the perfect match for each other and I think they’ll weather the storm.
@Fab, no one can make them stay. THe BRF does have to negotiate their severance package. If they intended to force the issue then they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
As to the not asking for financial support, I’ve only read that they are “transitioning” so will expect support for awhile, oh plus they haven’t forfeited Charles’ personal funds from the Duchy amounting to millions of pounds, and they seem to point to wanting to use their royal titles, influence, etc. for their private foundation and merchandising which is not financial independence because those accoutrements of royalty are, well, royal.
I do think the Suxxesses think that they would gain the upper hand by publishing their “new roles” as a fait accompli. The Queen pointedly did not fall in with those plans. As it stands both parties have much to lose. The BRF stand to lose the Harry and Family which likely hurts them professionally and personally. Meghan and Harry stand to lose the life plan that they outlined publically and asserted it was a done deal without that actually being the case. Harry stands to lose his extended family which cannot be a great feeling and/or Harry may be unable to give his beloved wife everything that he seemingly thought he could promise her.
I find all of this sad and disheartening. I hope all involved lead with level heads, compassionate hearts, and diminished tempers.
SofiaEP: it’s early to say but I think you might be right. To register the trademark of Royal Sussex (or something like that) was not a coincidence. It meant the very certainty they would have something to build their way to earn money. Otherwise, they would have left only with his and her money. And I believe the plann was to exile them (I said it here many times as soon as saw DM and Express talking about sending them here and there), as peniless as a prince with assets can be and unable to build a new life. The BRF doesn’t like to be made fool. There will be payback.
+1
The fact that the two of them are willing, at all cost, to try and protect their little family is heartening. None of use know how long we’ll be here, but, they appear to put a premium on their life choices now.
I suspect strongly that what they want to protect the most is Archie. And MM always looked like an extremely out of the question protective mother. That hand she was always putting in front of the belly is an ancient way to create a magnetic field to protect the baby. Probably, she learned it with the yoga’s classes. Do you remember all the trolls going on her throat just because of that? It was nasty.
And if they are like that about the parents, can you imagine when the poor child starts attending schooll? My heart gets cold just to imagine. They would target him as sure as I’m alive.
Okay I’m glad I’m not the only one and I hate typing that out.
Maybe it’s just the shock and the fact that nobody has pulled something like this so publicly? Which had a great effect of getting the attention of those royal jerks. I had a feeling when i saw the pics of Meg and Harry walking out of the Canadian embassy that they were about to stick a big, fat middle finger to the royals. Meghan’s smile seemed to be that of a huge relief and freedom, almost like thinking to herself “you royal bitches and press have no idea what’s coming your way!” LOL…personally i LOVE the way they did the diplomatic middle finger announcement! “Keep your titles and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine!” And of course the royals look bad, the Sussexes saw the writing on the wall. When the family is keen to protect a pedo by throwing a prince and his mixed race wife under the bus…what did they expect? There’s a saying i like ” you can’t treat someone like sh*t and expect them to love you”. The royal family loyalties are to the evildoers who play the low games and not to those who have the potential to uplift the family. F*ck that and f*ck them! Well done H&M…now get some tight a$$ private security bcs you see what that sour queenie did to Diana. Insert Brave Heart “Freedom! meme pic. This is how you play real life chess and have a queen for breakfast. Keep slaying! Better to live your life on your terms and live your truth than to kiss unworthy’s a$$ and getting crap in return. That’s no way of living. Life’s too short to put up with indignity just to be called a friggin duchess…gosh i need some coffee! I’m throwing a freedom party over here, not sure why but their news made my day. Their Independance Day! Yay!
Speaking of Canadian Embassy… what’s the situation with Meghan and Archie’s citizenship status? I have been seeing talk on twitter that these are somehow in jeopardy with this announcement? I thought Archie’s was secure being born in the UK, but Meghan’s is still pending or something? What are the UK rules?
Archie is an American citizen regardless, as Meghan is still a U.S. citizen herself.
The U.S. (still, for the moment) recognizes dual citizenship. If Meg and Harry move to Canada, this will screw up her UK citizenship application. I think she needs to be living in GB for 3 years?
From what was said in the run up to the wedding, Meghan needed to live in the UK for five years to get citizenship. And she has to stay living in the UK for a specific amount of time (maybe like 10 months or something) for those five years before she can fully apply. So yeah, if they do this, I think Meghan and Harry know she won’t be a UK citizen and be applicable for citizenship anymore.
Meghan still has her US citizenship, and Archie automatically became a US citizen when he was born because his mother is one. The US allows dual citizenship and for now, as far as US law goes, a person receives US citizenship upon birth if one of their parents is a US citizen (no matter where in the world they are born). Princess Grace of Monaco’s kids all had US citizenship when they were born because Grace still had her US citizenship. (When her son Albert became King he had to give up his US citizenship).
After all of this, I don’t see Meghan ever given up her US citizenship, especially now that she likely isn’t going to get UK citizenship. And I think Harry and Meghan will set up whatever paperwork needs to be done to make sure Archie has full dual citizenship.
@Momzilla “F*ck that and f*ck them! Well done H&M…now get some tight a$$ private security”
Exactly what I said!
Everyone’s going on about Security and Met Police when there’re some formidable private sec firms (Ex-Seal or ex-Mossad) that would be beyond ecstatic to win the DDoS contract. Either way, they’ve already checkmated The Palace as all options are beneficial to them. Whether they stay sans Crown benefits or they leave to enjoy a robust career in the humanitarian aid community (UN, World Bank, Red Cross, Sussex Royal Foundation, etc). Ultimately, it’s a win-win for Harry and Meghan. Fu*k the Crown.
I also feel like this is a hot mess. I wish the best for them but for a new family, new marriage, this is incredible stress and pressure.
More stress and pressure then they’ve already had on them since the beginning?
Agree – no more stress and pressure than they were subjected to out the gate.
And I didn’t say it wasn’t stressful before. Both things can be true, ya know.
Yes, Diana lost her HRH. Even though that cost the monarchy enormously. This could get really dirty. And ugly.
But the Queen had to suck it up after Diana when the outcry from the masses demanded it. I never forgave Liz for that (add on the Andrew stuff) and she can go eff her royal self.
Yes, it is going to be very messy unless someone can step in and show honest and transparent leadership. However, with the story that Meghan has gone back to Canada it really does look as though the Sussexes are determined to get out.
Oh dear!! Honest transparent leadership??? From whom? William? Old Charlie? The courtiers? That’s too much optimism.
I think they were determined to get out since the moment they registered that brand Royal Sussex with commercial purposes.
And I believe with all my heart that what they want the most is to protect Archie’s future from being smashed by the whole midia.
This news doesn’t contradict the actual palace statement which only stated that discussions were at an early stage, in fact, it corroborates that. Sounds like discussions were at an early stage.
Agreed, it will take awhile to work things out.
Yup. This is complicated and even their Q&A doesn’t answer everything. This needed a lot more hashing out and approval by the Queen. They submitted a “proposal”.
Exactly. When I saw the headline I expected a completely different article… I had to read it twice to make sure I wasn’t missing that part that exonerated the Sussexes.
As I said at the initial annoucement yesterday, I truly hope it works out for them as they have obviously been very unhappy with their current role but the way they have gone about it pretty much reinforces alot of the rumors about them and is NOT supporting the Queen which they claim they want to do.
It will be very interesting to see how it all shakes out…but Meghan and Harry great planners and thinkers?…I see the opposite. Great planners and thinkers work well with others and don’t have public tantrums when they don’t immediately get their way.
“but the way they have gone about it pretty much reinforces a lot of the rumors about them and is NOT supporting the Queen”
@S, I agree with what you have said. The decision/ announcement of the Sussexes to leave plays right into what the commentariat of The Daily Fail for years have said from the beginning about Meghan & Harry regarding “merching”, monetizing anything they can and not caring about the 95 year old QEII.
I find it difficult to see how any British Royal (not Royal in general but British Royal) can be “half-Royal”. Either you are Royal, work for the firm, tow the family line and are provided for or you leave completely like the Duke of Windsor or go into early retirement like Prince Andrew.
The only ones having a tantrum are the rest of the royal family. H&M are telling them to come to the table and get this done like adults. The rest of the royals want to drag this out with leaks and smears. For something called a “firm” they are behaving exactly the opposite.
There is no “immediately” about it.
They were in the process of setting up meetings and doing things the “right” way.
Then they heard someone leaked the story, so they got ahead of it. In their experience, when a story gets leaked about them, it comes out with a heavy dose of lies, so they did it their own way.
Sorry, but this is totally the RF throwing tantrums that Harry is not falling in line. This is what walking away means.
SPOT ON!
@ BayTampaBay – re: merchandising. I somewhat disagree with you or I think perhaps your statement is overly simplistic. Right but simplistic. Context is missing. No insult meant. I think where Harry and Meghan are concerned they got caught up in a (im)perfect storm.
Meghan was on her way to building some sort of brand before she met Harry. Right? A mini-Angelina Jolie in terms of charity, a mini-business woman and stylist. She was recreating herself to be sort of eco-friendly business woman / philanthropist. So, the blueprint was already there. Harry was being made redundant and marginalized with each Cambridge birth. He had his own few charitable causes but he was basically kind of sitting around empty. He didn’t want to do anything with the Prince’s Trust. He and William/Kate had their own foundation but it wasn’t really hitting balls out the park. However, I think when they saw what the cookbook could do, especially in the face of the uphill they faced, those things opened up options for him and a wider lane for her. Hence, merching.
The handwriting is on the wall concerning their future. Who are they supposed to become? Sophie and Edward, living in relative and genteel poverty, but still working for the firm? Andrew and Fergie, hustling, hustling, all the time hustling out here in these streets? They have somewhat taken the Andrew and Fergie route but have thrown up a foundation as the front BUT they get to do their good works. So, are they merching? I don’t know. Perhaps. But I don’t think that was the original intent.
What rumors about them? The ones the Daily Mail and BlindGossip send out regularly???
@Chelle, Did not make myself clear. What I was trying to say is that the way M&H left falls into the narrative The Daily Fail commentariart has been pushing since the beginning. As we all know, the Daily Fail commentariat is very simplistic and very low IQ.
I am glad H&M left and think they made the right choice. However if it had been me, I may have left in a different way. I cannot say for sure because, like everyone else, I do not know the 100% complete truth and what options H&M had.
@BayTampaBay – but I’m going to throw it right back at you, giving you your due. Why? Well because they have been trademarking stuff. So, I don’t know what to make of that. No, you don’t want anyone to profit off of your image/name or are you selling it or protecting it. It’s so hard to come down one way or another on these things because everything has been monetized. Everything.
Plus, I agree re: the DM’s audience.
Peace.
I agree. I also think that people forget that the actual government plays a role here. Charles proposed awhile ago that the sovereign grant should be done away with and that the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall should no longer be taxed. That way, they would be privately funded. The government said no because money is how they keep control over the monarchy. The government hated Diana using her title after the divorce because they couldn’t control her. The government wouldn’t like the Sussexes doing it either. It’s not just the Queen and Charles’ decision and the Sussexes jumped the gun on this one. It’s just not as simple as it’s being made out to be.
But there are private members of the royal family. This isn’t unprecedented. It sounds like they would be in the position of Beatrice and Eugenie, responsible for paying their own way, holding down jobs, and occasionally making appearances on behalf of the rf. It could be very simple, but it sounds like no one in the rf wanted to talk to them about how to work it out.
@Ainsley7 , Your comment is spot on. Meghan and Harry are NOT the York girls. Harry is the son of the future King as it stands today.
The British tabloids and British Broadsheets may ask; If Harry and Meghan are swept away under the rug, why not sweep away the whole BRF?
@Algernon I get the comparison to Bea and Eug’s status and I think in the Sussex website Q and A that might have been what they were getting it when they said there is precedent for non-senior royals to hold jobs, be private, etc. while still being part of the family and repping the Queen at times.
The slight difference though could be that Bea and Eug don’t have “The York Foundation” or something that they fundraise off and make large commercial partnerships with (because I think it is fair to say that part of the Sussexes announcing they will be financially autonomous is premised on the Sussexes foreseeing strong market opportunities that will be, let’s be honest, very lucrative). Bea and Eug don’t earn money off the branding of their Royal name or title, they are employees of companies where they earn wages. I am not trashing the Sussexes just noting a distinction from the York princesses.
@ Tourmaline
That is a good point.
I am trying to work out how they will be part time Royals, funded by the Duchy — while being part time entrepreneurs leveraging their brand to accumulate personal wealth WHILE fund raising for their foundation?
I am assuming the part of becoming financially independent is two sided meaning fully functioning foundation supported by it’s own grants and endowments AND creating more personal wealth so as to break from the Duchy for support in the future?
@YaGotMe yes that sounds like the plan based on their website Q and A. They specifically talk about being able to earn their own incomes (which they say was precluded by receiving money off the Sovereign Grant) so the financial independence is related to their foundation and their personal wealth.
Reply to YaGotMe:
“the added bonus of using the royal connections to accumulate personal wealth” — um, isn’t that how Elizabeth’s family got “personal wealth” in the first place? She is PERSONALLY very wealthy, as are many members of the family. They certainly didn’t “earn” it through private employment. If anyone doesn’t like that, well, that’s the price of having a monarchy. Maybe get rid of the monarchy, and there won’t be any “royal connections” for Harry and Meghan (and Elizabeth, and Charles, and William, and Ann, and Edward, and Fergie, etc., etc.) to exploit. Problem solved.
It was which is why it is disturbing it was leaked after they were given the run around in order to sort things out.
100% this. Not siding with Buckingham palace, but talk about reading info and just seeing what you want to see. Officially, Buckingham Palace said it was in its early stages, not that they didn’t know. Remember the salty note. Now according to your “unofficial stories” above, The Queen was saying you had to talk to Charles and they were both just ping ponging it back, so it sounds like the Sussexes just decided to go with it. There has been no official word from either Clarence House (Charles) or Kensington Palace (William). You know why? Most likely cause their scared shi*&less by their 93 year old Queen. So much for defacto King Charles. I personally wouldn’t say anything either, if I was in their shoes. This story is juicy enough without the Sussex propaganda on here. I mean come on we just need a bucket of popcorn and we have a great drama going on here, and for once it has shade but the racism thing which seems to appear regularly isn’t so up front and center. Sure racism might be a part of the origin, but be honest she could be white rich British upper class and if they decided to do this it would be front page British tabloid gossip everywhere. It’s obvious from the short salty Buckingham Palace statement the Queen knew, but wasn’t ready to announce anything. That is the interesting part.
However, if you are a Sussex fan I get the trepidation a bit. I personally love the fact they are deciding to step away from such an archaic classist institution, but I realize the fairytale fantasy is a bit hard to break from for some. The only issue I have is the Sussexes have lived off the Queen’s and taxpayer’s dime for a few years now, and Harry his whole life. If you want to break away you should break away completely. If someone is totally bankrolling your adult life, do they have a say in how and what you do? I’m kind of torn on this, as they are adults and could just leave. Initially, they probably wouldn’t have the big life they have now, as paying for security would be pretty hefty, which according to the story above seems to be Charles’ concern, but they could eventually make a lot it sounds like.
It’s funny my sister is in the midst of something like this with her in-laws. Her sister-in-law is really wealthy and bankrolls her 30 year old son’s life with his wife. Not sure what the issue was but the 30 year old couple were having problems, probably partially due to his family, but they separated. The mom is now all over this and happy and expediting the demise of their marriage. My sister found it sad, but was also conflicted about how much her sister had inserted herself in her son’s life. First she isn’t 100% sure how much her sister in law was involved, but knew the daughter in law felt like an outsider in his family. She was conflicted as she’s like if they wanted to be completely free just leave the nest. It’s definitely interesting. People shouldn’t use money and power to hold people but it happens a lot. The people who let them also share some responsibility in it too.
Please stop being a racist apologist. You’ve totally diminished and all but claimed the racism is irrelevant. The fact is that if Meghan had been white and British like Kate, this would not have happened. Because the BRF is racist and anti-American. They’re probably still salty we aren’t “the colonies” any longer. But it’s mostly racism. Yes this happens in regular families and in white families with white daughters in law but this is NOT that.
“If someone is totally bankrolling your adult life, do they have a say in how and what you do?”
No, because that’s the price of a monarchy — they “deserve” the title, money, perks, etc., BY VIRTUE OF THEIR BIRTH ALONE. Yeah, it’s stupid (to me, an American), but as long as the British people want a monarchy, that’s the price you pay. I’ve said it before regarding Elizabeth’s age — why should she step down? There is no “qualification” to be Queen other than her birth. And why should William work harder, if he doesn’t want to? There is no qualification for him to be king other than his birth. Harry is the son of the future monarch – his title and perks are virtue of his birth, not how much work he does, any more than William’s is. That’s the price of having a monarchy.
@Noway,
Bravo for the idea of holding both sides accountable: the payer and the payee. When family and money are intermingled, as is necessary for the BRF to function, things become very murky on both sides when either wants to end certain parts of that arrangement. No one side is likely to walk away satisfied or unhurt. Both sides likely take umbrage and are affronted by each other.
Yeah, I thought it was obvious from the beginning that the palaces and the Queen knew they wanted to do this and were talking about it? What the Queen and others didn’t know until like ten minutes before it happened was that the Sussexes were going to go ahead and release their statement and website with all of this information as if it was fact and everything was a done deal. This was after the Queen (supposedly) asked Harry not to do that until he had cleared everything with Prince Charles first.
Mumbles: I agree with Lara K: the only reason BP is raging is because they couldn’t embellish the story to make the Sussex look like, not the vilains this time, but the real monsters of selfishiness they were always trying to paint them.
The more they (the BRF) tries to take control of this narrative, the more I applaud Harry and Meghan for how they are handling things.
I am so glad that they are pulling away from this toxic sludge. And the harder the BRF tries to contain them, the more those old fossils show their @sses. Meantime, the Sussexes seem more and more relatable, smart, and downright decent in comparison.
Run, Harry and Meghan! Take your gorgeous baby and get the he// OUT of there!
Exactly. “Crisis”?? The crisis isn’t that Meghan and Harry are withdrawing. I mean, my god, he’s what? Fifth in line at this point? In a monarchy that’s all face and no power? That’s not a crisis. They’re just in a tailspin because they’ve built this PR machine based on selling out their whipping boy, and now he’s taken him self and his family out of the equation.
That’s what I was thinking too – no way is them stepping back a “crisis” in reality. They’ll probably still show up for the big events and important things, but not every day. It shouldn’t be a big deal at all, but they’re making it one with all the “crisis” talk. Like you said, they’re just mad they can’t push them around anymore, and throw them to the wolves to cover up other, actual problems.
He’s 6th, apparently – Charles, William, W’s 3 kids, then Harry.
I think it’s naive to think this will in any way stop tabloid reporting on harry and meg. if anything, it’s likely increase in frequency and vitriol. look how long brad and jen’s divorce fueled cover after cover. theyll keep this story alive no matter what-there are so many angles to take, so much depth to plumb, into perpetuity. this does nothing to stem that tide.
@bros, I think it will stop some but not all of the negative reporting. Why? Because now they can answer back! the press got away with a lot of s*** because they knew that the Sussexes hands were tied and could not respond to their crazy stories. The lawsuit changed that in a way and the press were given notice but this means now that the Sussexes can answer back to any false and malicious reporting immediately. E.g., Meghan can now give us all her side of the Piers story. I can ‘t wait!!
The tailspin is actually because he proposes to have one leg in and one leg out. It would likely be much simpler if he just quit altogether. Don’t get me wrong, the royal family would still be furious but there would be little to negotiate. In that case, I feel his father would opt to pay for a lifetime of security for all of Harry’s family out of his own pocket. If he quit, he would cease to be a Duke and she a Duchess thus there would be no question as to whether or not they could monetize their positions because they wouldn’t have one. It clears up access to entitlements that they absolutely need as working royals like Frogmore Cottage.
Ideally, I would hope am interim agreement could be worked out wherein Harry and family spend the next year or two abroad performing whatever few royal duties that they want or, maybe, none at all. In that time, surely they can get by on their combined fortune plus the millions of pounds that Charles’ gives Harry from proceeds from the Duchy of Cornwall. In return, Meghan and Harry would refrain from attempting to monetize their positions while enjoying a carefree period away from the family that they, apparently, despise or don’t trust at all. If at the end of that time both want to sever ties with the family then they could do so hopefully in a much better way for all involved. I have to say that Harry is prone to mental health issues, I can relate, and dealing with all of this on top of a new baby, a practically new wife, and a complete change of lifestyle which includes cutting off his family has to be incredibly stressful.
My thought yesterday was of course they did. The message and source sounded like this was the plan but just conveyed in a bitchy/bitter manner, and that it was reminding us all that this plan is going to take a while to execute, which I think is true. I also think the leak was The Firm beginning to spin the news for their benefit aka make them not look like aholes aka this was the heirs idea, and the Sussexes just said f it.
That’s what I was gonna say. I think BP wanted to get ahead of this news and make it look like they were the ones asking the Sussexes to step back and spin it to their advantage. When it started leaking as Harry and Meghan were getting the run around, Harry and Meghan went nuclear.
The family would look like complete assholes if they were the ones to push Meghan and Harry out. This definitely was not their idea not is there any reason that they would want people to think that it was.
Thank you for using Sussexit.
Yes, let’s popularize this instead of hashtag the haters have used for three years.
Yeah, I think William, Charles and Queenie didn’t take Harry seriously and thought they could continue to let him and his family be abused in the press without any changes.
And even Rebecca English who is the Bill and Kate mouthpiece admitted that the family knew about it. I am guessing H&M announced it because Bill was starting to leak more negative stories to the Sun.
I don’t know that they didn’t take him seriously. If the above story is correct it says he wrote a whole large plan on it. In fairness it’s complicated, but it sounds like Harry wants it pretty quickly. I’m thinking especially Charles, who from all accounts wants both his sons in the monarchy, was trying to figure out how to do this half and half which is what the Sussexes seem to want. Not sure how you would do that especially with the big expenditure which seems to be security. It’s far easier to just completely take them off the royal role and just give them perks a bit like the York girls, but that doesn’t really sound like what the Sussexes want. Either way this is interesting.
Sorry but I disagree. I think they took them very seriously. The problem is their plans needed time to hatch and the courtiers aren’t the most smart and quick blockheads of the joint.
Most to her dismay, the queen was forced to boot Andy out on the light of his close friendship with a pedophile. She had to be very careful to boot out H&M to not provoke a public outcry because she didn’t have a solid reason to boot them out. But I bet the tip of my nose that was exactly what they were creating: a solid and valid reason to boot them.
These assholes thought they could keep pushing Harry off until he accepted his fate and fell into line as the fall guy.
That worked out well for them.
They BRF clearly don’t seem to understand that Harry isn’t here for the BS. He warned everyone he wasn’t playing around. He is his mother’s son, through and through, I love him!
Unlike his mom, who had to deal with this crap alone, Harry has Meghan- who is sharp and thinks like a chess player- moves and moves ahead of where she is.
I hate that they are leaving- but since few in the press and non in the RF will even acknowledge abuse and racism at play- they were left with little choice.
I love him for being Diana’s child, too. I think that Buckingham Palace will refuse the Sussexes offer to represent the Monarchy as punishment. Harry and Megan seem prepared for that possibility.
The Palace should have kept their mouths shut if they didn’t want this to happen. Spinning it as rightfully banishing them was a huge mistake. Harry and Megan have established boundaries in support of their own mental health, and Archie’s, and I applaud them for it. They are real people not dependent on the Turnip Toff lifestyle. They seem like people who will be fine living on their own efforts with a middle class life that doesn’t include the British people’s tax money.
As Beyonce says, “always be gracious, best revenge is your paper”. They are willing to walk away and just be themselves by themselves. The spin trying to turn them into Edward and Wallis was so manipulative and stupid. Bless the Sussexes and little Archie. Harry grew up in it, and he is saving Archie a lot of grief.
All of this would have been avoided if the family circled around Meghan and fully supported Harry when the British tabloids took their abuse to an all new low during her pregnancy.
If the punishment is that Harry and Meghan cannot represent the monarchy, it would be a bad look for the BRF no matter how they try to frame it to their favor.
If Harry and Meghan are cut off, which I doubt will happen, I’m sure they will be disappointed to lose their royal patronages, but they will also welcome the freedom to do the kind of work they’re passionate about without the restrictions.
I took a step back from royal watching months ago because it became too toxic and it was no longer entertaining, but the bomb Harry and Meghan dropped yesterday reeled me back in.
Wow. The fact that a grandson can be blocked from talking to his grandmother by others because of an archaic system is just even more evidence that this nonsensical system needs to be burned to the ground. The absurdity of it all. Do people really enjoy supporting this formality? It seems so archaic and inefficient and super bureaucratic. Maybe if this toxic status symbol game wasn’t played this could have ended so differently.
Yeah, those courtiers, whoever those yahoos are, apparently have way too much influence and power. Sounds like some housecleaning may be in order. Not that that is likely to happen though.
That’s the way it always have been dating centuries. The british monarch is sealed off by the most trustful advisers. Even the own son has to have an appoitment on the queen/king agenda to see her. It could take months before a father/mother saw a son/daughter. Don’t believe that water-sugar “The Crown”: it’s worse.
Diana did her best to put an end to it. Look what happened. She wasn’t just talking about raising a kid to know the miseries of life, when she said she wanted her kids to have a “normal” life. She was also meaning to give the kid the most basic right of being nurtured by his/her own mother. Something any puppy/kitten has.
@golden – yes – reminded me of the scene in The Crown where Charles comes home and wants to talk to his mother and gets blocked by staff – he gets upset and she agrees grudgingly to see him.
I know right??! I think a lot of this may come down to the men in grey misbehaving and the senior Royals letting them not just get away with it but run the show as well. Harry knew how his mother hated the courtiers and how they treated her. Good for him for standing up to them to protect his family.
My first thought was that he was blocked because Charles is the one who is now in charge of family decisions at this point, and Harry was possibly trying to go around him to plead his case to her. Sort of like a, mom said no so I’ll ask dad instead type thing. It could also speak to her frustration with him, or simply how much the BP courtiers have come to hate him and Meghan, but it mostly just reveals how yikes the family dynamics are.
That is the way the British Royal family work. All of the Queen’s children have to make an appointment through her Secretary if they wish to see or speak to her. I think Charles operates in the same way. So for grandchildren to have access is even harder.
The Queen has been trained to keep her distance from everyone. She was having breakfast with Edward years ago and a servant had to remind her that it was his birthday.
This doesn’t change anything. All of this occurred over the Christmas break. Doesn’t seem like much would move forward during this holiday period. The Sussexes didn’t think things were moving fast enough and overplayed their hand.
They didn’t overplay their hand. Is that the haters latest spin? Lol.
Please explain how they “overplayed their hand”. It’s quite obvious that they released a well-thought statement complete with a detailed website after *someone* leaked to the Sun.
They should have stopped at the statement. The plan was just what they wanted not what they have been offered or are entitled to. That is where they overplayed.
William overplayed his hand by leaking this to Wooten.
Yep and unfortunately he will not face any repercussions for it with Charles or the Queen. Will’s behavior is what pushed them out of the senior royal role more than anything else IMO.
@Nota – I know I keep saying this, but I really think this is what happened. They didn’t put out their statement as an “eff you” bc Harry couldn’t get a meeting with his father. they put out their statement as an “eff you” to William after he leaked to Wooten.
@Nota, I have said time and again that the Sussexes play Chess very well. They have all kinds of statements ready to go whenever William and the Middletons leak stuff about them. I mentioned it when William leaked their whereabouts in Canada. The Sussexes are very prepared if/when the Firm comes after their titles. What a racist bunch of disconnected group the Queen and her white family are.
Exactly. Wootton is good friends with Will and Kate’s press secretary.
Christian Jones is buddies with Wootten, who is also behind tiara gate. Maybe they should get rid of the leaks instead of trying to throw their siblings under the bus. Wootten should never have had that story if the discussions were still in early stages. He got it from someone at KP and that person should be fired.
Yes and I’m sure they thought all their Cambridge activity prior to the holidays would be bigger and ill-advisedly went back to leaks and trying to diminish the H&M when it wasn’t the case. Really overplayed his hand. I do somewhat disagree with the assessment that they’re, or just Meghan, are planning so much in advance and mastermind the situations. I’ve been told that, so maybe I’m projecting, but while I can come out ahead in strategic situations it’s more to do with my EQ and being perceptive and often correct about others likely actions and motivations – then I go from what I observed. But, I don’t play chess either, so maybe those are the same skills. Anyway, again, thanks to the community here for providing (a mostly) sane place to come and read opinions and celebrate H&M’s liberation and protection for their son.
@Nota, Maybe but William holds all the cards. I think If they hadn’t done the website and just stated some vague statement
that they were in initial talks to redefine their role in a slimmed down monarchy, it could ha e stalled the frenzy. The Sussexes are strategic planners, but that doesn’t mean you’re smart all the time. The Palace has some spectacular faults, but they have a lot of historical experience in getting rid of spouses and family members who threaten the applecart. Honestly, the press wanted them to be fired, not quit. The Sussexes are in some ways just as sheltered as the other royals, as well as being isolated. Harry is used to getting his way as much as the others. Everyone can’t get their way and the Royal family wins, even if they look like jerks. It’s unfair and unjust but they need to figure out their future. They can’t put all their faith in social media and famous friends. It’s time for the Sussexes to get to work and start vetting deals and projects, and make nice with the Queen before this is all finalized, like some serious bowing, even if they have to choke down the bile.
What? The situation was misrepresented in the media? I’m shocked! I guess that’s why Sussex Royal made this statement on their new media plan:
Their updated approach aims to “provide access to credible media outlets focused on objective news reporting ”
ROFL
How was it misrepresented? They did in fact release the statement and launch the website before it was vetted and approved. Considering much of what they wrote depends on the Queen’s approval, it was shared without her full knowledge and support.
Nope BP, QE and Charles overplayed their hand. And it’s backfired spectacularly.
I see the leak coming from William, not the Queen or Charles.
@nota, I agree, Willie the Wanker has been behind many of the leaks. Thing is, though, the Queen or Charles could have shut that down ages ago. They didn’t. ‘Nuff said, right? Their priorities are to protect the pedo prince and embiggen a lazy future monarch and his wife.
If Putin tried this stunt, we would be outraged. Who do they think they are? Pick and choose media to which they will allow access? Huh.
They are not stopping any media from reporting on them.
They arent Putin or any other sort of president, prime minister, politican or dictator. He was born into an outdated and largely useless monarchy, and only 6th in line to that useless throne. He has no reason to allow press that has bullied his family mercilessly into his life. They are virtually just tax funded socialites and philanthropists.
Its an apples and oranges comparison and I think you know that.
Talking point strait from the mouth of Piers Morgan. On what planet would a rational person go to the very press people who have lied about and bullied them consistently for years? They made it very clear they will deal with objective news outlets. Too bad there aren’t many in the UK – that’s not H&M’s problem anymore.
Difference is Putin has dissenters murdered, but nice try at false equivalency.
My point is that a dictator has a hard time controlling media access.
Public servants on the public payroll certainly shouldn’t feel entitled to control media access.
Simple, really.
Further, it’s a misconception that the press is hounding them. They have gone to the press. Every. Single. Time. Totally different situation than Diana, who was followed constantly.
Svetlana is confused and needs to understand what is really going on.
Well there was a media blackout about one story but that was relating to William and his affair. Probably not a great look for the future future king to have similar controlling tendencies as Putin.
Sounds like the courtiers have a lot to answer for, yet again.
I don’t believe for a second that they are in crisis talk. It’s a bunch of BS from courtiers and the press. The Fail has pictures of Kate and Eugenie rushing to KP to attend the meetings. Really, Kate does what she is told and they could careless about what Eugenie thinks. This is a complete Royal mess. I think we will hear the Sussex side real soon..it will come from American media via friends…
They are going there to celebrate Kate’s birthday, not attend meetings. Although I have no doubt it will be one big gossip fest about two certain parties.
Oh no, the Royals don’t operate like that it will be terribly polite and they will act as if nothing is going on. Part of the problem.
I don’t think this necessarily negates the messages sent from the Queen. I think she was surprised they went public and it IS early in planning? I don’t know. I think the BRF is awful, but I’m still not fully convinced this is the best course of action by H&M.
You’re right, it isn’t.
@T, You make an excellent point.
Twenty years from now someone will make a pretentious movie on this and win multiple Oscars. This script has everything – romance, drama, family fued. Can’t wait! LOL
Don’t forget the s*x and the “turnip toffs.” My ol my. Lol
This maybe a little off topic (sorry) but did anyone else notice the issue with the Christmas Cards this year. We got the Queen’s card followed by Charles. It seems William blocked the official release of the Sussex’s card by not releasing his card. I say this to say there is a lot of drama going on behind the scenes with the brothers. The popularity of the Sussex’s has probably led William to be the green eye monster of envy. Mainly because he’s an Heir and the RF has always put him before Harry. Really this all goes back to the Sussex’s first tour. The worldwide attention they received as the 6th in line really surprised this family. They haven’t recovered since because of the jealousy, sabotage and backstabbing. I’m not saying the Sussex’s are completely innocent but I do believe they are coming from a place of good and really want to do the work. I believe William is coming from a place of tradition and that he and his family matters and that’s it. So he will not allow the Sussex’s to compete with he and his family PERIOD. He expects Harry to stand down and for him and Meghan to bend the knee. Unfortunately for William he’s up against two powerful forces in Meghan and Harry. It would’ve been nice if they could have reached a compromise. I think it will all end badly for both couples. William will probably ultimately get his way and have them banished but he will either never become King or a King in name only. The press will eventually target him and Kate once they can know longer abuse Meghan. Karma is alive and will get you when it’s all said and done
@ A: It’s so archetypical it’s literally Bibical! The Deity (TQ), the anointed son and his temptress wife, and two warring grandsons. Story for the ages.
Maybe the Sussexes will write and produce their own autobiographical movie. Why not make the $$$😂
Yesterday I was thinking that Lifetime will rush out a terrible movie. Which, of course, doesn’t preclude an Oscar winning movie 20 years down the road. Honestly, I’d probably watch both. LOL
All of this could have been avoided! The Queen, RF and the greysuits are so dumb. So, so dumb! LMAO!
Can someone please explain who the hell the “palace courtiers” even are??? They used to be like random people who just hung around and put clothes on the royals right? Who are they now, in the 21st century? Secretaries? Still just random people who hang around????????
Seriously! Who are these all powerful, manipulative jaspers?
i wonder this all the time. They seem like the people that just b*tch to the media and spill all the secrets. How do they have so much power??
They are desperate to keep their bosses happy and that means making their bosses look as good as possible.
I wonder this as well. I think it is all the people who live at and work at the court. Some but not all hold legal/govt positions.
I’m curious too. Are they a bunch of rigid aristocrats who make the real decisions there. This is why a monarch with no real governing power and makes any sense. Too many people jockeying for position in popularity contests. The jealousy and resentment was palpable in the press.
To play Devil’s advocate – how quickly did Harry and Megan think it would take to work out the details of their new role and financing with the RF? It kinda sounds like they wanted it to happen much faster than is realistic so they just went and did it. If they came to Charles with this just before Christmas, then a timeline of the summer sounds more realistic. I agree with their choice but it seems fast.
It clearly sounds like they were being given the runaround and realized that it was about to be leaked and they wanted to put things out in their terms.
That’s the part that makes me think this was being discussed long before the Christmas break. No way did H&M go away for Christmas, come back last week and say “we want out.” My guess is Harry was continually brushed aside like this article indicates, and not taken seriously.
Exactly. Getting something like this in place during Christmas is unrealistic. They do themselves no favors by pushing this through without the support of the Queen at least. Bad play.
This plan was in the works long before the 6 week break. Most likely, H&M were allowed to go off for 6 weeks to “ think things through”. The RF was probably hoping they’d forget about leaving. When H&M started getting stonewalled and then the news leak happened, all bets were off. H&M did what they did…let the chips fall where they may.
Their statement clearly states they expect to start transitioning in the spring. I think this is all about the leak.
Given the situation they should have at least set a date to meet, which they didn’t do. Let’s be real, at the very least Charles could’ve met with him-he’s his father FFS. This is not a small matter. Sometimes, you need to move your arse to show good faith.
I’m not sure anyone believes that Harry couldn’t get in touch with his father to talk about this. It isn’t the age of carrier pigeons or sending a courier to another part of the palace with a parchment. Email, phone, text, skype etc.
TQ? Yea, I can see not shooting her a text, I’m not sure I believe Harry couldn’t find a moment with the old bat.
I do believe H&M probably got a lot of runaround and stalling and let’s put this off ’til the new year etc. because no one wanted to acknowledge that they were really going to break off.
@YaGotMe, actually I think that’s exactly what happened. There are times when you have to stop passing the buck, set a date to speak with those involved and in this case, grow some balls and tell Will to stop leaking shit to the press. The leaks and treatment from the press merited a lawsuit which the RF knew about prior to it’s announcement. If your son, says, here’s my plan, you move your arse to mitigate the situation and show good faith. I speak from personal experience here. Sometimes the gesture goes a long way to resolving a situation. Charles didn’t do this and he could have. He knew to move on his brother’s shenanigans, the issues his son & his wife are facing are serious as well. This is Charles’ job-he could’ve managed this better
Courtiers interfering like this is actually what has been happening from day one with that family. So I’m not surprised they did this even between father and son. But Charles shouldn’t have been passive in something this serious.
Agree, couriers dragging their heels, but I also think neither Queen or Charles wanted to deal with this issue. Harry had to see this as a FU to him from them, after all they can move fast when they want too. Andrew was sidelined within 48 hours, but meeting with Harry…..well maybe sometime down the road.
Weren’t they doing just that but were constantly blocked by the courtiers? A lot of this is unclear. Charles should have just dealt with it instead of stalling.
Words are interesting. Every quote used is about the family mad regarding the “announcement” ie the public statement, and yet the trolls are substituting the announcement with not having knowledge of the decision as a whole. And I think that’s a conscious choice by the Royal Family not to clarify or be more clear. It’s clear BP knew, they’re just unhappy it’s public. To me this says the family dynamics are worse than I thought and Meghan and Harry are more or less on their own. Sad. But I’m hopefully for their future and their “new” work.
How come Harry can’t just talk to his dad? Must he make an appointement via the courriers? I’m not being snarky, I’m genuinely confused…
I’m not sure, but based on watching The Crown, the answer would be yes.
I commented the same above – especially with that whole technology thing we have going on now. I doubt the Queen is carrying around a cell, but I don’t for a second believe that Harry was unable to communicate with Charles in a variety of different ways. Yes, they are Royalty, they are also still a FAMILY regardless of how we view them from the outside.
Yup they probably giving them both the runaround and after seeing how they closed ranks around Andrew and ANOTHER leak they decided to strike. Whether the RF tells them to fuck off or concedes on some fronts at least they’re taking action. Something they haven’t done in 3 years.
Tin foil tiara theory: H&M are in talks for something major on their own that they were working on over break. Maybe they really spent holiday time with Oprah? TQ and PC were slow walking and causing a possible delay with what the Sussexes were planning to set themselves up. The leak happened and they realized they were being slow walked for smear purposes, so they said “screw it”
Second theory: the reason for the riff that it was mentioned reporters couldn’t talk about involves press leaks smearing the Sussexes. H&M took a break and were told the leaks would stop. They discovered it didn’t. So they’re out.
I like your tinfoil hat theories. I do think discussions have been happening for a while and also think that they were promised that it wouldn’t leak. I think the details weren’t finalized but discussions were had and a model plan was made. Then the leaks happened and they said screw this.
Agree! !
The timing of this makes me wonder about so many things- this wasn’t a Friday evening/ long weekend news story, they new it would dominate the headlines all week. And the timing is right before Kate’s birthday- yikes!
Very interesting timing. Out to maximize U.S. press coverage and AFTER UK press has gone out for the day.
I think it’s unfair not to include the fact of Dan Wooten leaking this to the Sun. That is a significant event that precipitates the move of the Sussex statement and launch of the website.
Kate is not having a milestone birthday so I don’t think they were intentionally shading her.
Oh my God the entire issue around *Kate’s Birthday* that the press keeps talking about.
She is a 38 years old grown-ass woman, it’s just a birthday for crying out loud
What a family! I cannot imagine a situation when I cannot reach my father or even CEO of the company that I work for (since BRF is a Firm)
Trying to be both a Firm and a family has made them bad at both things. The Firm is run by people who just happen to have the luck to be born into it so there is no guarantee that any of them are qualified to do the kind of work that is needed to keep a business operating smoothly and long-term in the modern era. And because everyone related to each other, they don’t treat each other with the respect and detachment that colleagues normally do. They let their petty family issues get in the way of running their Firm like a true business.
But they’re also horrible as a family, because they’re all set up in some kind of hierarchy where first born children are automatically more important than other children and will be promoted up to the position of CEO no matter what. They expect their mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandchildren, whatever to live out their entire life (personal and “professional”) in service to the heirs. Their homes are run like offices. Their big family events are thought of as “work” and PR for the company.
This is how you end up with a grandson who can’t get in to see his grandmother. She is technically his boss and is the person he is supposed to go to when he needs to talk about his work-life and position, but she can also decide to play “fail old granny” when she doesn’t want to deal with things. On the other hand, if he wants to go and see her as a grandson visits a grandmother, she can suddenly play Big Scary Boss Lady and claim to not have the time for him right now. Every single one of them fails at either their professional role, their family role, or balancing the two. Some of them are suited to the professional roles they’ve been thrust into, some of them are suited to the family role, but there is really no one in that family who at excels at both roles all the time and is adept at switching between roles and balancing them.
This is one of the most insightful comments I’ve read on this subject, @Amytoo. Thanks for giving me something to chew on!
Okay so there are so many posts about this now and I cant keep them straight, so i’m just putting this here.
I really think this is about Harry and William. I think Harry realized William was behind the smear campaign, maybe asked him to stop, or something – then we have the staged budget flight, continued leaks, the lawsuit – and then at that point Harry realized the full extent of William’s involvement. They are getting out now before William becomes Duke of Cornwall/PoW. (which realistically, at least for Duke of Cornwall, could be at any time.) I think they want to escape the royal rota, who are on William’s “team” at this point, and William – and this is the only way to do that.
The thing about it is that Charles and the Queen had the power to stop William’s behavior and did nothing. That speaks volumes.
Yup, agreed. I think when Harry realized how fast Charles and the Queen could have shut William down – he wanted out.
As a random example, the Royal Family on twitter will delete comments about Andrew and block people for making those comments. They do not do the same for comments about Meghan.
This exactly. Charles and the Queen only have themselves to blame for this. A few well placed phone calls would have handled this and the did nothing. When Harry sent them his plan they should have held an emergency meeting on the spot.
Agreed. This is absolutely between the brothers. I think Harry is beyond hurt at William’s betrayal (like so hurt that it’s killed whatever good feelings he ever had for his brother) and wants out from under his thumb before William gains any more power. I think H&M foresaw a lifetime of being used as a distraction from W&K and are not interested.
I think you’re right on getting out and timeline. If they waited until Queen died that could be years, then it would be wait a bit the Queen just died and you need to let Charles stabilize on the throne. Then, what if by the time Charles becomes King his health is so poor they would have been told to wait some more. That could all take years of living in this horrible backstabbing environment. I think they are getting out at the best possible time. What mentally healthy person with options would willingly put their life on hold to live that life!?
@Becks1, exactly. It took three years for everyone to realize that William, his wife and her family are behind the smears. I believe that Harry and Meghan have known all along, they set traps and planned their escape. I can a imagine a scenario during the Oceania tour where told the Charles and The Queen “choose me and my family or Harry and his family”. The Crown temporarily wins but not for long….stay focused everyone, it is about to get even bumpier.
Great points. They’ve been planning their escape for a long time. I’m sure you’re right about Kate and her family, too. God, this makes Queenie, Charles, and Will look AWFUL.
hmmm, I agree that William played a key role but both TQ and Charles did nothing during the year-long smear campaign: no statements to the media to stop it, no joint events at the height of the smears to show support, recently no pic of the Sussexes during TQ’s x-mas speech in the background etc. So whatever William did, he could only do because TQ and Charles supported him.
@Elisa – oh I agree with that too. I think William was the driver of this, but the refusal or inaction of Charles and the Queen to stop him was another nail in the coffin.
Bingo.
This is why I think that H&M have the upper hand in any further negotiations that happen regarding their status in the Royal family. They know too much about William, the leaks, Rose bush, et al, for them to be cast away by the side of the road.
It is totally inappropriate, mean spirited and vindictive for couriers to indicate to the press that Harry and Meghan will be punished.
They’ve been punishing them from the moment their relationship got serious!
You’re right about that.
I cannot help but think of Diana’s predicament. Look what happened to her.
Diana’s little grey men! I honestly cannot believe anyone in that family thinks it is good for someone as prominent as Harry and Meghan (sixth or whatever in line) to be publicly smeared. Aside from that, how is simple love for their son and grandson not enough to make them act to protect him and his family?
They do not have anything close to a normal family dynamic – because family relationships are tied up in a rigid hierarchical system with a bunch of self-important gate-keepers (the courtiers). I think the BRF in many ways is stuck in an Edwardian time-bubble due to the age of the Queen and the insulation that immense privilege creates.
I knew there was no way Harry went around his grandmothers back. He has a close relationship with her and its just not his style. Those “courtiers” once again do what they want. The monarchy and the people involved is so antiquated. The Daily Fail is in an uproar about the whole thing. Watching Puss Morgan meltdown has been entertaining. On another note, I saw on Twitter last night that many people suspect that Carol Middleton might be one of the sources at the Sun. I do believe that it was the Sun that was going to break this story so thats why Harry and Meghan pulled the trigger and made their announcement early. It makes sense.
The Sun did break the story. It was only after the leak in the Sun that the Sussexes released their statement.
I’ve come to the conclusion that if the RF wants to succeed going forward, they need to get the courtiers in hand. The courtiers, and their bad, out of date advice will be the downfall of the monarchy.
The courtiers know too much, lol!!
If Carole is the leaker, then where did she get her info? You know she wasn’t in on any meetings. Besides she isn’t going to say anything without clearing it with Bill and Kate first. She is not going to make them mad. No more pap pictures and invites. So him and Kate’s fingers are all in this pie.
I don’t think Carole leaked this. This is something that Christian Jones the KP communications director would have more knowledge of than Carole would. Wootten is close with him and so that’s where this leak came from.
Agreed. I have suspected for a long time now that Carol was behind alot of the leaks/smears about Meghan. She give them totally manipulated info and in exchange they write glowing stories about Kate. I always felt like the cookbook, which Meghan put together in her first year of marriage kind a made Kate look so lame in comparison.Tin foil hat firmly on head here, but I can just imaginesmoke coming out of Carol M ‘s ears over that cookbook. Esp. when Pippa’s book was such a bomb.
The weirdest part about all of this is like…Kate doesn’t need this. She doesn’t need to throw anyone under the bus to come out on top. As long as she’s willing to stay and not initiate a divorce, there is no threat to her position. She married the heir. She’s going to be Queen. She never needed to care much about what Meghan did, she just needed to hang tight to what she already has. Her family is set. She’s set. Her children are set. So if the Midds are indeed responsible, then that’s just even more bonkers, because they meddled in something they didn’t need to, caused a great deal of rancor when they didn’t have to, and have caused a significant rupture in the RF as a result. All for what?
I wonder I Will knew this was the plan all along and that was what the falling out was about. That Harry had options when it came to royal duty and he didn’t
The statement from BP pretty much read to me as follows;
“yes we know they want out, but the silly wankers don’t have a fuxxing clue how tough it is out there without our money and we don’t want to me made to look stupid by them stepping out on us, so can you back the fux up while we cajole them back into the fold’.
I say that because H&M’s statement is not about ceasing to be Royals but rather ceasing to be ‘senior Royals’.
Yes. I think that H&M are trying to compromise between the two worlds. And I definitely do think that the rest of the RF will try to cajole them back into the fold, although I’d be really curious to see how they spin that bit of PR in a way that looks positive for H&M and everyone else. I can’t imagine that H&M will want to come back if they’ll just keep getting thrown under the bus again and again.
I totally thought a year ago that meghan and harrry should leave the UK because of the horrible treatment. Im sad that they have actually decided to do it though! It really feels like the Daily Mail won 🙁 and Pierce Morgan told them so many time “give up your titles and leave” – now that they are actually doing it, PM is saying “oh how horrible, what betrayal to the Queen” They literally cannot win no matter what they do in the UK. I dont blame them at all!
They aren’t giving us their titles nor are the leaving England. Please do try to read correctly.
@Lucia…. I don’t think the snark and demeaning another commenter is necessary. Yeeeeesh.
@lucia youre miserable, please do try and be a better person.
Okay this tells me that you didn’t read the statement cause they’re not leaving the UK, giving up their titles nor are they leaving the royal family.
But the statement is really just the Sussex proposal, which hasn’t been agreed to.
They stated they are giving up the title/position of senior royal. They stated they are no longer living exclusively in the UK. I read the statement. Thanks for jumping in!
Friends of both Prince Harry and William said that they were treated like outcast within the royal family accordingly to the Dailybeast. They added that they repeatedly told Bill that the attention that the Sussexes are getting will not last, the spotlight will eventually be on him and his family it was to no avail.
The Sussexes are already badly treated.
Bill’s so selfish that he wants to tell his brother how to live his life.
It seemed like all the isms are present.
Savvy media consumers who support the Sussexes were on this for the longest while.
Bill never accepted Meghan and questioned his brother who was rightly offended.
I always thought that he wanted what his brother has.
It is not his brother’s fault that he became the prize for the Middletons and their work shy daughter.
They are so insecure that they embolden the toxic tabloid media to bully and harass their biracial in-law. Remember the ‘fragile’ comment.
Yet it seemed that it is their contention that Prince Harry is the problem.
Richard Palmer reiterated that the Sussexes were alone in initiating the law suits.
Led by the brother, the father and grandmother, isolated the Sussexes.
Bill and keen Kate – it is all yours. The press will get their tax breaks will have to pan handle for clicks.
Smart media consumers have already moved on.
The trolls – who cares about them and their bile?
The RR reporter Royah Nikkhah squealed on the BBC broadcast.
I don’t think Bill is jealous that Harry has what he wants. I don’t think he wants or needs a woman who is his equal. I think Bill is just doesn’t like the fact that Harry is happy, period.
If I have to go through other people to speak with my own father and grandmother i would want out too. This is abnormal. Nope. No wonder Kate enjoys living in the country. I would too and I’m a ride or die city girl. This family is a mess and I would want out of it as quickly as possible.
All of the handwringing by the BRF and the press shows just how ridiculous is the whole idea of a royal family. For crying out loud, Harry is 35 freakin years old. That is practically halfway to death! There is no reason he cannot make his own life decisions without approval from his granny, or his brother, or anyone else!
I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t like or dislike the Royals; my take on this after reading all the news is that Charles and William are pissed that they are not the ones controlling the narrative
There are two timelines here. One is, they decided to take a break, went to Canada for the holidays, had a lovely time and said to each other one night, “let’s live here part time.” “Okay, I’ll ring up dad and Granny and see what we can do.” And this is all very new and unexpected.
The other is, they KNEW they were on this path WHEN they decided to go to Canada for an extended house-hunting, talk-to-Mulroneys-about-schools strategic stay and therefore BP (and probably GOC) have been in the know for months.
With the official visit to Canada House, I’m thinking the second timeline is the correct one. BP knew but expected H&M would be okay letting BP set the priorities for 2020 (whether that’s transition talks, Andrew work-release plans, etc.) and H&M released early because of some jerkwad at KP shooting his mouth off the day of the Canada House visit.
@sassafras – the second timeline sounds more realistic to me. BP was caught off guard by the timing.
Also, it makes Trudeau’s whole ‘welcome to canada’ comment have a lot more meaning, LOL.
their new website was in the makings in september. check out lainey for a better breakdown.
Harry and meghan did it Bc royal courtiers and royal family aren’t trustable.
Somebody leaked it to the sun before Harry and Meghan made their announcement.
It was in a front page cover.
.
What kind of threat is that?
“Harry and Meghan will punished”
The royal family didn’t punished the leakers nor others meghan’s Bullies but they want to punish the couple?
Don’t even have to ask why princess Diana ditched them
So Sussexit is cool and all, but since the UK media is going to blame her for all of it anyway, can we give Meg her props and call it Megxit? So proud.
We’re not doing that bc Megxit was used by the anti-Meghan trolls for years in hopes of forcing her out of the family. I like the idea of taking back the name (which some are doing) as a positive, but I like Sussexit too.
I’m all for owning the Sussexit term. Turn it into a positive like Obamacare.
It’s sad that this situation requires a “crisis talk”. I wish BP would adopt a modern approach and recognize that H&M need a different lifestyle that supports their family’s well being and just with with them on that.
I also remember how much Harry loved his time spent on Africa as a younger man. I think he mentioned it was because he could feel more like a “regular person” there. I think he always wanted to be a more regular person, and if he hadn’t met Megan, he would have married another woman with similar values. I think his taking steps to distance himself from Royal life has always been inevitable and doesn’t stem from Megan’s influence.
IMHO, what Harry failed to realize was the he could NEVER be and will NEVER be a regular person no how much he wanted it and no matter how much he was willing to sacrifice for it.
+1, that’s also why William gets dragged for his Normal Bill crap, and rightly so…
So then, Harry’s choice is to a life of total misery and unhappiness just because he was born into the Royal Family?
Who said Harry wants to be regular? I think he wants to use his position to advance causes he and Meghan are concerned about instead of ribbon cutting and garden parties. That seems to be all that W&K want to do, so let them. I don’t see this as H&M saying they want to go away and be left alone, unless it’s by the Royal Rota.
The European royals in some countries already have a system where only the monarch and the direct line get funding and have to do the work. There is no reason the BRF can’t copy that. It’s pretty much what Harry is looking to do. Help when needed but otherwise live an independent life. Of course it would mean that Anne, Andrew and Edward have to work as well, but it’s not like it can’t be done.
OF COURSE the Sussexes informed the Queen of their plans. No matter how hard the press, Buckingham Palace and his own fucking brother try to paint them, they are NOT spoiled, selfish monsters. I have no doubt that Harry still loves and respects his father and his grand-mother, his QUEEN, even though neither have given him much reason to do so.
It’s become clearer every single day just how much work Prince Phillip did to keep the wheels on this ramshackle bus. As he fades away, the royal family is falling apart.
So if Meghan and Harry split up, where does that leave him?
It just feels very messy.
Why would they split up and if they did it wouldn’t be good for either of them. I doubt Harry is thinking..I’m going to allow my family and the press to abuse my wife in case we divorce…who thinks that way
I don’t understand why they were giving him the runaround.
Harry wanted to leave for most of the year to North America and plan his long term life and financial independence away from the family (smart because I doubt a William reign will be kind to him or his family) and since he’s not in direct line of succession perfectly reasonable. And then when required will come to the UK in service of his grandmother and for his patronages and UK projects, staying at Frogmore though i think they may move if it starts being an issue.
This sounds like a win all around – they won’t fund him, he comes back to attend some projects/events, they get a break for months from William being triggered by his brother and his wife being in the spotlight, and they are spared the inevitable war in the media a la Charles and Andrew decades ago if Harry decided to push back.
But not the Royals, they continually underestimate and push Harry. At what point will sink in to them that Harry is no Andrew. Perfectly happy to coast with mummy’s protection. He stayed in the army for 10yrs and did tours, set up charities in his 20s and grew them to what they are now, still setting up projects and initiatives recently. They will lose him for good if they keep expecting hom to sacrifice his family for the firm.
Except that’s not how I’m reading the Q&A on the webpage – they aren’t giving up Royal funding, they are giving up 5% of royal funding through the SG and keeping funding through the Duchy of Cornwall. Otherwise what you have laid out as far as coming back for certain events etc. sounds like a perfect compromise.
I think gradually, even the funding from the Duchy will be phased out too. Let’s face it, he who holds the purse holds the strings. I don’t think H&M want those strings for the rest of their lives.
Yagotme, sorry I have tried to find the link to the website to read it again but maybe I’m searching with the wrong word combinations.
But my assumption was that they were giving up the funding for their work in order to achieve financial independence for their work. I’m open to correction on this
I also read an exercpt from the website that mentioned all their personal trips and other expenses were privately funded. I guess privately could be Charles but seemed like all them.
The Duchy funding comes from Charles but once he’s king the Duchy fund belongs to William. Even if there is no specific time to stop receiving funds from the Duchy, we know it’s going to stop once William has control of it. And it sounds like it’s funding to do the royal work, which would be fair since it would be like an employer covering travel expenses and staff for certain projects.
@yagotme I’m completely confused by what you’re saying. The monarchs children/senior are funded in part by the sovereign grant. Harry and a Meghan are declining that and one would assume would continue to decline it once Charles is King. The Prince of Wales’s children are primarily funded by the Duchy of Cornwall. Not his siblings. Charles doesn’t fund Anne, Andrew, Edward through the Duchy. So logic follows that when he is King, Prince William is the Prince of Wales and inherits the Duchy and funds HIS children. As is the model now. Why would he continue to fund Harry and Meghan?
And the Queens untimely demise? I’m so confused how would that complicate anything? She’s 90 something nothing about her demise would be untimely or unplanned for.
It all makes perfect sense to me. Harry and Meghan are declining the public sovereign grant money. And I think it’s realistic they will be cut off from the Duchy as well once William is PoW. Not out of spite officially (tho I’m sure that’s a major element given this ones character) but because the Duchy isn’t used for PoW’s siblings? Harry and Meghan must realize that and they’re putting plans in motion now.
But a leaker forced the hand of the Sussexes to release the news as a preemptive move.
Who was the leaker?
Someone from KP obviously.
From what I gathered, these are planned moves; the website and trademarking “Sussex Royal”.
The last part leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. If they want to be royal, be. If they don’t, then be private citizen i.e no Sussex Royal.
Only time will tell whether this is brilliant or unwise moves.
They are being royal, they are just marking their territory. If Bill and Katie want to be Keens of the Castle, Harry and Meg are fine with that. They are not fine with the lies and leaks in the press. Bill is just being petulant and really Queen and Charles should bring him to heel, not Harry. There was no cause for him or his camp to leak that info.
Every other Royal has trademarked their names/foundations. Why is it only the Sussexes getting singled out for trademarking?
What a strange family dynamic these people have. William can’t just pick up a phone and call his brother? There has to be an official meeting? Harry has to get approval for what he’s allowed to discuss with his own grandmother? And he has to schedule a meeting to have a personal conversation with his father? I don’t care that much about the BRF and my passing opinion is that they’re all pretty trashy, save for Harry and Meghan, so team Sussex all the way.
I think the operative word here is, intimidation. A second word would be, access. I think the Firm rules within the family by intimidating and denying access: requiring formal appointments, refusal to meet, not accepting phone calls.
but The Firm consists of individuals, so I agree with Ann: I find it bizarre that William, Charles etc. won’t pick up a phone call (simply use Facetime etc. to make it more personal) from Harry? And this should intimidate him?
Harry has gone on record as stating that his grandmother, in her role as Queen can be very intimidating and word is that both Charles and William are screamers. Who wants to deal with that.
They are not leaving the RF, they are giving up the sovreign grant like Zara, Peter, Eugene, Beatrice, but still work for the crown, with flexibilty in this 21st Century. The above names all work, and earn salaries, and sometimes carry out duties. The Palace Courtiers are very coniving, and they have succeeded in convincing the public that poor queen, Charles and William were not informed, very sad, shame on the courtiers
I do not get that though. If you really think your brother, your father, and your grandmother don’t support you and your family, why would you want to continue to be in the family? Why continue to work for the Crown at all? Indeed, the p resent Queen and both of the people in line to the Crown have all either thrown Harry and family under the bus or allowed someone else to do that to them. If they believe that than do not continue to work for them at all.
My guess is that H&M were willing to play ball a bit longer until 1) Courtiers “blocked” his meeting with his grandmother (WTF? I want to hear more about that) and 2) The plan, which I assume they’d revealed to only H’s father and grandmother, was leaked and they understood they could trust nobody.
I ho early don’t get the expectation that if you marry a working royal you must become one yourself. Maybe if you marry the direct heir, OK. But the others? And why does the expectation apply to only the women marrying in? Princess Margaret’s husband, Princess Anne’s two husbands … not working royals AFAIK. But Fergie, Sophie* Meghan … why can’t there be an option to marry a man in this family without automatically assuming his career?
* Yes I know Sophie wasn’t initially a working royal, but neither was her husband. When he became one she instantly did too.
I think H & M were willing to work through it privately until Will leaked it to the Sun through Dan Wooten to screw them over and after that, all bets were off.
Not sure if this has been already pointed out in the comments, but it just dawned on me that this movement makes total sense from a financial perspective re: the money from the duchy of cornwall. you’d think that H&M would not be thrilled to depend from Wills goodwill once Charles is king. their hands would be completely tied. so why wait?
Once Charles is king, H and M funding would come fully from the Sovereign Grant, not the Duchy of Cornwall (like the Queen’s other children now). H and M were never going to have to rely on William for funding until William is king.
Once Charles is King wouldn’t he be able to fund them off Duchy of Lancaster?
“I think Will & Kate were called back to London because of all of this – they likely planned to spend this entire week lounging around Anmer Hall.”
If you check the court circular, both William and Kate did meetings in London yesterday. So they were already back when everything went down. They weren’t called back because of it.
Kids are back at school, so they had to be back in London
I’m very sad it all had to come to this. Harry and Meghan are my favorites, and I feel really sad. I wish them all the best in whatever path they carve for themselves.
I loved them too but what can you do? If this is what they choose then we have to accept it.
There’s no mention of disillusionment with the demands of the job. Smear campaigns and untrue news stories about them, plus “co-workers” pulling PR stunts to make them look bad. Then when you attempt to sit down to discuss future plans, continuing with your analogy, someone (from your company!) announcing on LinkedIn that you’re leaving your job.
Meghan and Harry have never balked at the workload. They’ve been crucified by the press with skewed, made-up stories and the royal family has not stood up for them at all.
ETA – post I’m responding to has been deleted.
Ha, I prepared a reply too!
Dear Ask a Manager: All of my coworkers have been subtweeting lies about me and my family and sh*tposting on social media (where the comments are all full of racists), and my boss and grand-bosses won’t do anything about it.
My company supplies long-term housing as my job has specific security needs and this is the cheapest way to deliver them. The company recently renovated the building with essential upgrades to keep it from falling down (e.g. roof, masonry), however all the expenses for painting, decorating, furnishes, appliances, etc., came out of my household budget (I would not be reimbursed for this if I left my job).
I’ve been having some [mental] health issues and recently asked for either some duties to be re-arranged (perhaps allowing me to work remotely for part of the year from my wife’s home country), scale back, or for an earned sabbatical; my bosses kept pushing off meetings and refusing to discuss the logistics of it. To top it off, my best coworker (who I thought of as a brother) spoke about my plans to one of his direct reports, who promptly went and shared this with someone who has bullied me relentlessly (and actually played a role in my mother’s untimely death, which, obviously, has been a contributing factor to my health!). This is further confirmation that he or his employees have been behind many of these other “leaks.” I’m at a breaking point. What should I do?
And that letter is just from “Harry’s” angle – imagine what Meghan’s would say, especially as I did not give enough space to the racism angle. Sheesh! AAM would say you need to leave that job now, it is so incredibly toxic, there is so much danger to your health, family, and finances if you were to stay indefinitely until your bosses agree to an exit plan; you don’t owe them that.
@Livvers
Excellent! Right on the money
Abolish the monarchy, that is all.
@pyritedigger, Your idea is sounding better minute-by-minute!
It’s basically about a couple getting married, the wife moving to the groom’s hometown and not feeling comfortable or happy there. So let’s move back to my adopted hometown, but we’ll visit your hometown and your family a lot. It will get more complicated when their child or children start school. I don’t know, maybe Harry will feel out of place in Canada after awhile. Seems like a not so unusual dilemma that a lot of married people face. They’ve come from very different worlds, hope they can work it long term.
You forgot to throw in the in-laws helping to smear the wife in the press and humiliate the husband. That’s seems a bit unusual to me.
20 years ago Prince Edward and Sophie tried to be private citizens but it didn’t work out for them.
I’ve seen this comparison to Edward and Sophie. Yes their non Royal jobs didn’t work out, 15-20 years ago. But they had a small TV production company (Edward) and a small PR business (Sophie).
Social media changes everything and the Sussexes have huge global profiles and reach, thus comparing what they are anticipating doing to what the Wessexes were up to way back then is apples and oranges.
Also part of the reason they gave up their jobs was because Sophie was caught on tape by a journalist using her Royal influence directly for business ( not adjacent) and talking shit about her in-laws. I’m sure Harry and Meghan biggest fear is becoming like Andrew and Fergie. I think they want to build on what they already have and creative, and hopefully not influence peddling or selling access to endorsements. It will be very tricky and under microscopic scrutiny. Honestly, they both could do voice- over work for PBS or Audible.com, they both have such beautiful speaking voices. I see a podcast I their future.
Now the story from Robert Jobson about Will and Kate becoming a “new-look Charles & Diana” makes sense.
“I would expect them to spend more time in the US and maybe make an official visit to Canada”
Hmmm I wonder what prompted them to suddenly come out with that after hearing about and dismissing Harry and Meghan’s plans to spend more time in the US and Canada.
Knew it! Whatever people like to say H&M have shown great respect for the institution and doesn’t seem it’s something they would do lightly without trying to handle via ‘proper’ channels. Can totally see how the announcement drop was done after they realized the firm will c***block every step of the way. Good for them
Apparently TQ gave them until Monday to come up with a plan as the RF had their suspicions that all was not right with H+M when they extended their Canada break. BP had no idea that H+M had a website ready etc. So it was a bombshell when it went public as TQ was expecting it to come to her first
Then why did the Sussex IG say this has been in the works for months. The first hint of them leaving came from KP last year in the Times article, not from H&M. So why is the RF acting “shocked” like this came out of the blue? They are total a-holes and gaslighters.
I’m just repeating what someone with links told me in confidence just now. I’m firmly on team harry and meg for this.
I’m wondering, is The Sun story a straight up leak or are they hacking again?
Straight up leak from the Queen’s grey men or William, or both working in collusion.
I don’t think most of the royals or courtiers truly understand how damaging it is for Harry, most popular Royal even ahead of the Queen, to choose to withdraw from
and implicitly criticize this outdated institution or so called “family”. It’ll Be really interesting to watch how it unfolds.
I think this will be especially damaging for the Commonwealth. I mean if the BRF is willing to throw their new bi-racial Duchess to the wolves, that’s going to cause a lot of citizens in those Commonwealth countries to view their royal family in a whole new light.
Well if they remove the Sussexes from their current roles with the Commonwealth, there’s a job opening for poor Andrew. 🤯
I mean after the media frenzy and huge public interest they generated in their Australia/Oceania tour, Morocco, southern Africa… any future tour to those areas by other royals will be like a deflated balloon and unfavorably compared.
And I saw a lot of people say that they had complicated feelings about the monarchy but liked the Sussexes. Now the BRF has destroyed that goodwill.
@MA because I lived in England for a long time and studied there too I was fond of many things, including the Royal Family and TQ. But, I never went to events or lined up in the streets to see royalty, but it seemed cute and to jewellery watch. It ebbed a lot and when Harry found and married Meghan I had (false/naive) hope that the RF was changing for the better. It was such a bright spot and an “in your face” to the US racism out of the closet horror and I was a fan again. Now I see that nothing is different and the racist Americans who were angry that a traditionally white institution betrayed them knew they were worshiping at the right altar after all. I really was naive to begin to see TQ as a wonderful matriarch and monarch, good lesson.
Chaz & Lillibet are gonna forever regret not agreeing to meet with Hazza & Megs after being begged to.
H&M’s “sayonara b-tches” instagram post has 1,671,298 likes and counting.
Royal watchers across the world are largely supporting H&M and that number grows as word gets out that it was the BRF and their minions that screwed them.
The only way to do this with dignity is to break completely, so H&M give up all their titles, privileges, and stop being funded via the palace or taxpayer monies in any way.
That is not true! It’s the other way around. If the RF has dignity they will acknowledge they have made bad mistakes regarding H&M and negotiate a deal with the couple that is a compromise for both sides! It can be win-win. This will be a turbulent year for Britain: Brexit at the end of this month, Scexit uncertainty and a monarchy in transition. The perfect storm!
I don’t think H&M have a problem doing just that….becoming totally financially independent with no funding whatsoever from the Royal Family. IMO, the plan they announced to continue Royal duties on behalf of the Queen and the Firm (their employers) was a compromise. If their employer wished for them to continue Royal duties in some capacity (to save face), then, correctly, their employer should bear those costs.
That is clearly NOT the only way to do this.
The fact that this was leaked a day before their statement proves this is true. Royal reporters are just upset they did this their way. I think this is wonderful for them and I support them in this. Good luck to Will and Kate, they will need it lol
Also, Harry has always had one foot out the door , he went to the military for years and said it was an escape. He now has a reason to leave and I think this more his idea than Meghan’s
OMG I can’t believe how stressed I am about this! About people I don’t know in a country I don’t live in, and an institution I don’t support. Really makes me appreciate 1776 so much more LOL. The Sussexes must have bleeding ulcers. I genuinely hope they land on their feet and the Queen and Charles show a little bit of grace in this. They could have shut this down over a year ago, but decided to let the Sussexes be thrown to the wolves. I wish they had waited on the statement and website but they didn’t ( that was strictly Harry imho) and now need to get their ducks a row. They shouldn’t say another word until they see the Queen. I think they would have let the palace spin it as trimming the monarchy and restructuring the firm, taking less from the taxpayers, Swedish royals blah blah blah , and taken the hit. Harry and Meghan would have sat down and talked about their role from the get go , but everyone from the head Royals, to the courtiers, to the press wanted villains and heroes, and the bad brown foreigners invading Britain narrative. If this was leaked by William, he has undermined his own throne and shown himself to be utterly lacking in leadership and a damaged person.
Why ever should you be stressed – just stay away from it if you are?
It sounds like Buckingham Palace still wasn’t informed of the public exit on Instagram? Am I mis-reading or missing something? I don’t have an opinion on whether it was the correct move or not, but it still doesn’t sound like they were informed.
It’s my understanding that while yes, the impending change was something QE and PC were aware of, the disappointment is all over the announcement itself. H&M were expected to hold off on publicizing just yet.
Another commenter on another post pointed out, and I agree wholeheartedly, that the purpose of having H&M hold off was to create spin on the story that made the other royal members look good, and I think too, they wanted to wait until after Kate’s birthday.
Sounds reasonable enough, but H & M both recognized that Granny, Pops and Dear old big bro talk out of both sides of their mouth and can’t be trusted to be loyal to one of their own unless it suits their purposes.
Add to that someone else got the story and was about to leak it with their own spin and H&M, having been smart enough to foresee this possibility, pulled the trigger.
I really can’t find fault with anything the Sussexes have done. When no one is looking out for you, you’ve got to take the reins.
It sounds like they were aware of the plans, told H&M to wait, jerked them around for a bit, then the news was leaked by “someone” from a very limited group of people who knew about it, and H&M pulled the trigger on announcing to protect themselves from the regular palace spin – thereby taking the senior royals by surprise at the timing of the announcement.
This.
There’s nothing like seeing the Brits with their knickers in a wad…
American here so this is for the people who really understand BRF protocol. Harry needed TQ permission to marry Meghan bc at the time he was still 5th in line. Is that true? Once you hit 6th in line you no longer need her permission for every aspect of your life? If WK don’t have any more children, can’t Charles force Harry back into a senior role once he takes the thrown? As it stands today, he was able to make this announcement bc he doesn’t actually need TQ permission to do so? Help me understand!
According to Sussex even when Charles becomes king they are not coming back. Beacuse being full time means Charles and William will have control over them and leak stories about to press. Also Charles complain about slimming down monarchy , so Sussex want to be like York girls just royal title and no public funding. Taxpayer funding means media bully them, so they are giving up that. What is interesting is that slimming down british monarchy is bad idea beacuse it is not Spanish, Danish or swedish beacuse those royals only represent one or two countries. But brf represents 52 commonwealth countries , so the heir cant do all the work . It’s going to blow up in their face. After charles only Charles, camilla , anne , sophie, kate and William will be working royals and they have to divide 52 countries and 1000 of charity among them. Older royals wont take that much work and William and kate is going to burn.
Someone also commented on one of these threads that William had actually spoken to the Queen about denying Harry permission to marry Meghan. First time I’d heard that. Commentor didn’t provide a source though.
William’s going to the Queen pre-marriage with concerns about Meghan was reported in the Press back in the day. It was also reported at the same time that William had told Harry that he found Meghan unsuitable as a wife. Now press reports have glossed over that and are saying that William merely indicated to Harry that he was concerned about the speed with which their romance was developing and that he wanted Harry to hold off a while longer.
The vitriol and horrible comments are terrible in twitter. I have reported quite a few when I have free time.
The same courtiers who said “The Queen will put them in their place when they go to Balmoral this summer!” (or wherever it is they go, lol) Ok, then. I think this is all overblown by the media to get headlines and clicks. I’m sure revenue is down with only the Cambridges to write about.
ETA: This comment is in the wrong place! So sorry!
“Senior courtiers have warned that “Harry and Meghan will be punished for this”.” – I find this part really creepy.
Same. It reads to me as a blatant threat. Certainly of escalating lies and bullying. Of what else, I don’t know, but it does creep me out too.
So do I. That’s a very disturbing statement.
If senior courtiers really said this (and it isn’t just an invention of the paper), then they are both stupid and unprofessional – and complicating this situation unnecessarily and thus placing the entire institution on shaky ground during a period where the monarchy has taken several hits – the way BoJo politicized the Queen in regard to proroguing of Parliament as a political maneuver at a time of crisis as well as the whole mess surrounding Andrew. The people who initially leaked the story to The Sun did themselves no favours because that prompted Meg and Harry to go public and these courtiers making threats make their employer look sinister. This has become much messier than it should have been – especially since there actually are Scandinavian precedents of royals doing what Harry and Meghan are attempting to do. I think that the courtiers have way too much influence and there are some bruised egos among that section who are fanning the fire, then add familial dysfunction that has added just added fuel to the fire.
If the courtiers really said this, it beautifully summarizes why Harry and Meghan want out of that malicious, racist, rapist-protecting, family.
Sooo creepy. Like just a sliver of the nastiness they have felt with is showing in that Somme the …you will be punished? Wow. And they left Archie in Canada for a reason? Were they afraid for his safety?
Can they punish the one who abused their position as trade envoy for financial gain, befriended a pedophile, and raped girls? Or is that just reserved for true evildoers like the Sussexes
The BRF taking a leaf from the film Casablanca, “shocked, Shocked, SHOCKED!” What a bunch of panties in a twist whiners.
Richard Palmer tweeted that Britain’s National Union of Journalists have criticized the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for trying to prevent the media from functioning properly.
For the Brits on the board, wasn’t there an uproar like 7 – 10 years ago about the media phone hacking not just the royals but in the Millie Dowling (sp) case? Wasn’t there a big tribunal or something about that? News of the World, anyone?
Supposedly, people are gathering outside Buckingham Palace to protest against the Sussexes. Sounds like the press has really whipped many Brits into foaming at the mouth over this. I’ll be surprised if one of them doesn’t throw a rope over a tree and say Meghan should be lynched. 🤯🤯🤯
So the people are protesting because they want to have more people supported by their taxes?? This is so dumb. Harry is setting a precedent for all royals not in the direct line.
Protest against the Sussexes, or protest against the idea they may step back from being senior royals?
This step back reminds me of what PW did and still doing many years ago. I am not sure why it is such a big deal considering Harry will not be king and trying to avoid a Prince Andrew like situation in the years to come. I am pretty sure his father and HM have known about it for a while since they didnt sound surprised at all when BP released a statement. If anything, it changed the narrative. Now lets see how PW and Kate will do.
Honestly, that’s what makes me laugh about this. They’re stepping back and wont be FT royals? Okay, well, we’re still waiting for Kate to BE a full time royal, so let me know what that happens. (said to the haters.)
Apparently something is being worked out today and over the next few days to transition the Sussexes, with “the governments.” So not sure what that means, but I guess we will find out sooner rather than later.
It may indicate government in the Commonwealth are unhappy with this change.
THIS JUST IN:
The Queen has called an emergency meeting to expedite this transition towards something “more constructive.”
The reason: I have it on good authority that the Sussexes have hard evidence that the Cambridges have been double-dealing them to the tabs and have threatened to release all of it publicly if this onslaught continues. To wit, they left their son in Canada to go to the mattresses over the leaks by the Cambridges and Pippa Middleton.
That’s one of the reasons a.) they released their bombshell the day before Kate’s birthday, as payback, and b.) she was looking so grim-faced on her way to the palace today. She’s busted.
Expect them to get most of what they’re asking for.
More to come.
Very interesting……
Bring it!!! I especially think there is some truth to this because not only did we see the full splash out of Carol’s ageless “figure” while romping on they while on vacation BUT there was a frontal pic of Pippa and baby in the DM a couple of days ago. I didn’t click on either article but I was wondering what had Pipoa and Carol sold to get a splash-out like that.
I have been critical of the Sussexes and some of their moves BUT I do want them to win. Go team!
*Opens bag of favorite chips. *Refills drinks. *Making room for any other Celebitchies on this very comfortable couch. *I have enough snackies for all y’all!
YES!!! YAAAAAAASSSSSS!!!!! This is getting so good. SO.MUCH.BETTER than the “temper tantrum” it’s basically made out as.
Thank you gossip gods…this is fabu.
Too funny.
I don’t need a snack, this tidbit is too delicious. 😉
I will join you on the couch. I think the hourly updates from Celebitchy might be needed. I’ll make sandwiches who is bringing the wine?
I know I am late, just got home from work and I brought martinis for all! My first toast is to a young couple who are removing themselves from a nightmare of a whipping post. Godspeed, we are rooting for you. I am reminded of what Jon Oliver said when he was asked for advice for a young American marrying into the British royal family. He said, DON’T DO IT! “I mean, they’re an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo-job.”
They should drop it all regardless, we know that Dan Wooton is dating their Head of Comms.
Like others on here have said the Cambridges were setup and its not just the Sussex’s they’ve sold out to the press. I hope it all comes out, William’s Rose bush trimming and all.
If the Sussex’s have hard evidence then it will force TQ to publicly back them at the expense of the Cambridges. Karma is coming for the 2 dim bulbs and if anyone’s marriage is going to explode it’s theirs.
I just don’t believe they left Archie in Canada.
Scobie said they did.
Apparently Meghan just flew back to Canada. They very well may have left Archie there. Wow
I am sure he is in excellent hands, and this proves that the Sussexes have made up their minds and there is no going back.
The jigsaw puzzle is coming together. Going to Canada House was to show solidarity with the country of their future new home. They also made a private visit to the Grenfell Hubb kitchen, probably to say goodbye, Meghan became firm friends with these women. I thought it was strange that they should go to the Hubb so soon after getting back. This was all carefully planned.
How and why did Pippa Middleton get involved? F%^king Bonkers!!!!
Why not – how else is she going to get front page coverage on the Fail who were the only ones who actually covered her wedding. Plus she has previous for being her sister’s mouthpiece – am sure Carole is involved as well.
Its not unreasonable to assume that the whole lot of them (Middletons and Cambridges) are all in it to smear the Sussex’s – they do everything as a family. Plus they also massively benefitted from it, think of all the glowing press they’ve been getting. Carole needs to flog teh failing family business and Pippa needs to distract from her FIL.
Probably wants to keep the attention off of her rapist father-in-law.
Amazing how they got both the rapist father in law and James and the Nazi marshmallow stories disappeared, no?
I’ve thought about it and I think with harry and Meghan now gone, the royal family need as much ‘stability’ as possible. Kate has been on thin ice for a long time and her marriage is hanging by a thread. I’m sure William goes back and forth about pulling the plug on her all the time.The middletons life revolves around Kate being royal. With harry and Meghan leaving, Kate has essentially bought herself a few more years in the RF. She is safe for now, there will not be a divorce for atleast 5+years, not even if they wanted, it would never be allowed now.
Scobie just posted in Harpersbazaar.com that they went live because was leaked to the Sun but all levels knew for several months. H/M felt they had been cornered. No one was incandescent with rage and no one is going to punish anyone. It’s good. Check it out!
We should have known something was up. They left Archie in Canada.
There a new Canadian poll just taken that says most Canadians would be happy to have Prince Harry become Canada’s next Governor-General: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-majority-of-canadians-want-prince-harry-to-become-governor-general
@Snowy, the readership of the National Post is incredibly right wing, as is the paper itself. I wouldn’t trust that poll to be an accurate reflection of what the population feels at all. The people who voted were most likely geriatric white people who make a minimum of $300k a year and bitch about immigration and want to reinstate the Red Ensign as the national flag again. Try running this poll in any Quebecois newspaper and see what they have to say, and I guarantee that the answer will be the complete opposite.
Ok omid scobie has confirmed Archie is indeed still in Canada, so anon your gonna have to come back here and keep spilling that tea.
Yes. Anon needs to spill the tea. I’m still curious over Pippa playing a part in this. Interesting.
People actually confirmed/reported Archie being in Canada before Anon did for what it’s worth. https://people.com/royals/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-traveled-to-london-while-archie-remained-in-canada-amid-palace-shakeup/
Anon, I dont know if you are correct but I wouldn’t put past the Cambridges and Middletons. They just seem obsessed with their popularity and public image.
And Harper’s Bazaar are reporting that Archie is indeed in Canada, and Sussexes have gone back.
So who knows, but something had to give. It has been non stop onslaught for 2+ years.
Anon is clearly in with some good sources; please come back if you have more gossip to share, lol
Well anon, you were right about Archie still being in Canada. So please, if you have any more info, let us know.
I had a feeling that H&M had some type of proof that the Cambridges were behind all of this. With the moves they were making, it spoke to them having some HARD leverage in the their favor. And this is now *twice* when KP has leaked something and H&M’s people confirmed it the next day with calcification.
Harry is tough. I don’t think you can serve two tours of duty and not be. He may not be “book” smart, but he’s clearly what is known as “street” smart. And Meghan dealt with Hollywood BS for years and managed to have a successful career. That isn’t easy, especially if you aren’t white.
The Cambridges and Middleton shadiness will come out in full one day. H&M’s lawsuits aren’t going to be dropped. Sooner or later some Royal Reporter will throw them under the bus to save their own ass, maybe even in open court. Because, as has long been said, there is no honor among thieves. Karma can take a while to come, but it always eventually does.
I always said that booksmart people are good at school and learning large bodies of information but they are never the ‘successful ones’ in the real world. They can make good doctors and lawyers or anything that requires factual information, but lack innovation and creativity, that’s why they tend to make better employees than employers. Street smart people see the world differently and restrictive environments like school doesn’t cater to that. Anyone who has ever progressed the world forward has been ‘street smart’ and while most people look down on that I think it’s great. This is why harry has always thrived and William has mearly existed. Harry will always outsmart him in the end and William knows that.
Harry has emotional intelligence – it is why he will survive this and move onward in power. I never thought they would have come to the table unless they were holding all the Aces.
And I believe my first comment on Celebitchy was that William was behind this. Apparently he is his father in all ways.
Unfortunately William has neither
Anon: If the Daily Fail settles the lawsuit…..keep your source. No way the RF will let this get out. Daily Fail will settle and William will owe them his children.
Exactly….it is already happening with the dreadful coverage of poor Charlotte and character analysis of her and her brother in DM.
The sad thing is that these royal reporters don’t seem to realise that this all started because of williams petty jealousy. He’s the reason they don’t have access to the Sussex’s and he and Kate are responsible for them leaving. With the Sussex’s leaving the royal rota it means the likes of the daily mail and the sun won’t even be able to use any pictures of the engagements they attend so they won’t have any content on the Sussex’s moving forward. I can’t wait the the Cambridge’s and the press to turn on each other.
The BRF is a toxic mess.
I doubt the media will leave them alone after this. Why does stepping back equal an end to the media bullying. Especially if they come to the US. The papers can continue to make up stories, it happens all the time to celebrities.
Yes, but m & h can now respond and call them on their b******* right away. In and of itself, that will stop a lot of the false reporting.
I don’t think the Sussexes think it will get any easier. I’m sure they expect it to get nastier, but at least they won’t have to feed the Royal Rota and will be able to testify at their own lawsuits if they so desire. Lainey mentions that this is in part Harry coming for the Cartel as he calls the RR.
Many people want to blame this on Meghan, but Harry’s made it clear, before he ever met Meghan, that he kept a list of what Royal Reporters said what about him. Their names, what they wrote/said, all of it. Dude has basically been Arya Stark-ing them for years.
Even with all the racist shit they’ve said about her, Harry’s has a longer grudge against them, dating back to, I’d say August 1997. This stuff with Meghan has just finally pushed him to act on it like he’s probably already been planning to do.
In their old positions, they were obligated to share information with the UK press aka Royal Rota before releasing it themselves. The Royal Rota includes tabloids that are horrible liars. They don’t want an obligation to feed their info to entities that are actively attacking and lying about them.
I did a tarot reading the other day before the news broke about how the public will perceive each of them in the future. Although tarot is a bit of fun and I try not to take it too literally, harry and Meghan will be fine eventually, William and Kate not so much. A lot of back stabbing and manipulation will be revealed. I think they will be hit by the karma bus. I always thought the biggest war in the royal household is still to come and it will be William vs Kate.
lol well if your cards said it, it must be true
Like I said tarot shouldnt be taken too literally and more for fun, However the same messages come out over and over again. I try not to publically talk about it because of cynical people, so I’m not going into detail, but the messages are strong.
Well it seems your cards are correct. Read anon’s scoop a few posts up.
How convenient.
Slightly off topic, but there are at least a dozen articles on the DM about this topic (all saying the same damn thing) and thousands of comments per article.
There is also a single news story about Andrew lying about when he met Epstein, and only a handful of comments. And most of them about how sorry they feel for the Queen in this time.
I know the british press has always been both powerful and gross, but I didnt realize exactly how powerful they were until I got invested in the Sussexs.
There’s some great commentary — pro Sussexes — in The Independent and Caitlin Moran commentary in The Times is delicious.
The pic of Kate in the car- she looks terrible. And what’s with the marks on her face – is it a reflection?
Of course they did. BP and KP just leak like a sieve, and can’t keep their mouths shut about anything. So H&M took control of the news before BP or KP could. And *that’s* what they are mad about.
The palace should have issued a press blackout and had the article pulled, because they’ve done that in the past. Their snails pace and 1930s way of operating resulted in all this. They should have taken their initial meeting. They should fire those courtiers who state managed this sh*t show. If Harry and Meghan are invited to Princess Bea’s wedding after all this sturm und drang , it will be televised, no joke!
Re Anon comment number 72 above. There may be some truth here as even PEOPLE magazine is reporting that the Queen has informed Charles and William to work this out with the Sussexes immediately. Article says finalizing the agreement is now supposed to take days instead of weeks. Sounds like someone lit a fire under The Firm. Although I still think Archie is with them and I don’t think the Sussexes released their statement to F*** with Kate. I think they released it because William’s team leaked the day before to Wooten at the Sun.
Apparently true, and Meghan and Harry are on their way back to Canada for Archie.
People are saying that Meghan should return the funds that were spent on her. Eff that sh!t! Consider that reparations for all of the money, diamond, gold , property STOLEN from African Nations!
@ Valerie, yes, say it loud for those close minded creatures.
I dont think the two issues should be conflated. What Meghan received has nothing to do with reparations for colonisation
Are you kidding me? She should get it any way that she can, for the rest of MY people who will never! Point blank.
@Coco Puff, on the contrary, Britain as it exists today would be absolutely nowhere without all of the wealth they stole from the colonies. The Industrial Revolution was funded by the nations they invaded, whose resources they appropriated for their benefit. This is the same wealth the RF sits on as well. So no, I don’t think those two issues are as far apart as people like to think at all.
Val…THiS!!!
Some really great article are being written about the Sussex’s decision (Independent and Slate). After reading the articles I wonder if the problem was that the Sussex’s preempted the Palace with the announcement and their website. Maybe the announcement was intended to come from The Queen, Charles or God forbid William. The website they developed was not only eye opening but excellent in it’s potential. If I was a member of one of the Commonwealth Countries and saw the level of attention the Sussex’s could put on my country I would be calling BP immediately using my membership as leverage in support of the Sussex’s. After all a majority of the Commonwealth Country don’t get the worldwide attention that they need and deserve. From my American prospective I don’t understand how the UK taxpayer could be upset about a proposal that eventually releases them from the Sussex’s percentage of their $1 annul burden they contribute to the RF. Someone up thread stated this is all about the UK Tabloid and the impact it would have on their viability/impact on the RF in the future, I agree with that. One thing is for certain the Sussex’s are here to stay and although the Brits don’t get them the rest of the world does.
I come from a Commonwealth country (Canada). We don’t need the British royal family to work to raise our profile, thanks. There are plenty of actual Canadians who can do that work just fine. The royal family is not as important as you think it is to a lot of people.
I doubt the comment was made toward Canada. The poster clearly stated ”some” not “all”
Please google the Tom Bradby ITV interview!!!
Wow! Just read article in Bazaar that Archie is in Canada and Sussexes are already headed back there. I think comment 72 above by Anon might be spot on. More and more articles in just last hour or so how Queen, Charles, and William are all behind them and supportive and no one is incandescent with rage. I think Anon DEFINITELY has it right that the Sussexes said work with us or we will release what we have about William and all the backstabbing. It just turned around too fast to be anything other than the Sussexes holding the winning ace. The Firm has completely rolled out a different view of everything within just a few hours. Somebody is “being punished” but I don’t think it’s going to be the Sussexes. 🥳🥳
Seriously not trying to Buzzkill because for all I know Anon 72 does have an actual source, but they posted after pretty much all of this information was available online, including Archie being in Canada (first reported by People). I think almost all of the BRF main players leak on one another so I’m not sure this would be enough to propel them into action considering everyone else is likely to have equally as much damaging information on one another and that’s part of what makes it all so toxic.
While I have no “insider” information about what anon posted, let’s not forget about the lawsuit against the Daily Fail.
Carole is friends with the DM editor as well as the editor of Tattler. She leaked a bunch of things in the past in order to secure the “crown”.
The Sussexes may have indeed finally gotten proof as their lawyers prepared for the lawsuit and finally told W&K what time it wss.
Being the petty bitch that I am, I’d release it anyway.
I assume they’ll still sue the Mail. Can you imagine how bonkers it would be if they sued the Middletons for leaking stuff ( if that actually happened and is legally possible), Still curious why Camilla Tominey name checked Carole Middleton in her tweet. .
What I’m most impressed about is how they were able to keep the fact that Archie has stayed in Canada a secret until they shared that info (and the fact that Meghan is returning to TO this evening) through their source via Hapermag.
This clearly shows that their friends and entourage aren’t the ones leaking their info. Clearly, prince Harry’s brother seems to be the big culprit here.
I wonder how Etalk Canada is covering this news? Any imput from Canadian readers? It seems like Archie is staying with Ben and Jessica Mulroney, and him being on Etalk, how does it work?
One thing is sure though: Jessica is getting a major popularity boost among the celebrity set. She will be courted to get access to Meghan. A few days ago, she said she would share a new project she was excited about. I wonder if her next step will involve a collaboration with Meghan?
Anyways, Harry and Meghan had the energy and the actual “keeness” and passion to work for their patronages, but now who will be advocating for them and those charities? Certainely not the heir to the heir and his lazy wife.
Yet Jessica is in Toronto and the “source” said Archie is in Victoria. Obviously Jessica could take a plane but her own work schedule seems jam-packed for the past several weeks – GMA appearances, filming her own show and making appearances on cityline, etc. I’m having a hard time believing she could clear her schedule to play nanny.
As far as e-talk is concerned, Ben has no problem spilling celeb gossip when the people involved aren’t his friends, but where Meghan & Harry are concerned, his lips are sealed and he plays dumb. If Lainey values her jobs at the social & etalk, she will continue to play dumb too.
Holy freaking moly. I just read comment 72. If a lot of the onslaught was coming from Kate and her family and there is proof the fur is going to fly!
I’m just sitting here thinking of Harry and how devastating that would be for him to digest that betrayal. He has always gone to bat for Kate. He may not be the brightest bulb around but it is clear he has a loving and giving heart.
No wonder they flew over the Atlanic for Christmas.
I have always thought that the BRF was a bunch of backstabbing, lazy, spoiled, none too smart, oddballs who looked down on everyone.
Princess Diana was beloved by the people because she seemed to adore her children, and tried to use her position to help others. She admitted she felt that Charles never truly loved her. After all, when asked upon announcing their engagement, “Is it love?” Diana at 19 y/o answered “Of course” Charles answered “Whatever love is”
No Prince Charming that Charles.
IRL, siblings fall out for any number of reasons.
If William is not willing to publicly stand up for Meghan and Harry, he should not be surprised that Harry is willing to break away to be able to protect his wife and child.
F the rest of BRF! Having lost both my parents before I was 21, I can speak to this situation…Harry is a grown man, he can and should do whatever he feels he needs to do, to keep his marriage and his son safe and happy. I stopped speaking to my brother when he and his wife both kept bitching at me after I was married. 20 years later, I now will call and have a short, polite Xmas greeting less than 10 minutes with said brother, but that is enough.
TQ, Charles and William are all dead wrong to choose The Firm vs. H&M.
Abolish the Throne!
Reading that they had informed the Queen and wanted to work this out in good faith, it is so infuriating how this was handled by the palace. The Sussexes went away and kept quiet, told them they wanted to be part of a slimmed down monarchy, but some saw it as the wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Part of me is angry at the couple in that they didn’t demand a sit down meeting during the height of the attacks and smears and while she was pregnant , or before the tour and lawsuits happened. However we don’t know what went down behind the scenes. That was deliberately leaked to put them in their place (once again), and cut the legs out from under them. Courtiers or the heirs didn’t want an amicable split or a demotion to minor royals who would work part time with some patronages and royal duties and earn their own keep like the York girls or Margaret’s kids, while keeping their titles. I think everything proposed on the website was an opening draft that was part of their proposal , but it would of course change, based on what he monarch allowed. Those courtiers wanted the Sussexes muzzled and under house arrest. I really want them to succeed but something that could have been handled so much better than became another circus. The leak was to viscously turn the country against them. I fear and pray for their well being and for the success of their family. I also think whoever leaked it should be named and fired. So upsetting.
Agree. As I said earlier, Sussexes releasing their statement earlier than expected all came down to someone at KP leaking the info to Wooten at The Sun and Wooten publishing it. This was William doing what he could to F*** with the Sussexes and trying to turn public against them over this — which he successfully did for the last 24 hours. I think where William failed is he never expected the Sussexes to disobey the Queen telling Harry to keep it under wraps. William thought he could get the hyenas on them via the tabloids and blow them out of the water BEFORE anything official was released. The Sussexes were prepared and released their statement immediately after the leak went public. Then — according to Anon (#72 above); they upped the anti and informed The Firm they were willing to release receipts on William’s actions. Now it seems everyone is playing happy families all of a sudden. Team Sussex — yeah!
“they didn’t demand a sit down meeting during the height of the attacks and smears and while she was pregnant , or before the tour and lawsuits happened” I imagine that they did, and they kept getting brushed off, or told to just cope and not do or say anything. I don’t think this decision, which strikes me very much as a last resort, would happen if they hadn’t tried anything else and just not gotten anywhere with it.
So I read Harry has $7 million from Diana, so they do have some money to live on unless Charles continues to support them from the Duchy money. So are they planning on working at all? I am always practical and think of jobs and money first. So is his brother angry? I don’t know.
Rutgers is reporting he is worth between $39 – 41 million at this point, plus Meghan’s approx. $5 million. He received the bulk of Diana’s money and a larger share from Queen Mother, plus other family trusts as William gets the Prince of Wales duchy money when he becomes POW.
Rutgers is a university – how would they know anything about his net worth?
So I have no idea how much money they have, but I was reading the Guardian this evening and was surprised by what I read. Apparently 95% of their money comes from Charles and the Duchy. This will continue, apparently. So I gather no plans for them to get jobs. Sorta like Andrew and we all know what happened there. 🙄 So I was thinking of the Queen, Charles and Camilla and Anne. I know they are all busy bees. And William and Kate I have heard they are not very industrious. And of course, the Duke is retired. So I think I tend to be a bit of a Republican. I gather Britain still wants the Royals and it is naught to do with me. Personally it would not surprise me that after my time, perhaps the U.K. will vote them out.
I didn’t comment on this yesterday because I was honestly deeply disappointed and f-cking depressed over it. This is just such a sh-tty situation all around. What the f-ck is the royal family useful for without Harry? He gave them some desperately needed cover and charisma, without which they’re just a nonagenarian who I assume is being held together by a bunch of bag clips, a 70-something year old who people can’t look at without remembering him wanting to be a tampon, a dumbass 30 year old manchild, his wife who’s more boring than watching paint dry, and the creepy pedophile uncle who needs his 90 year old mummy to cover for him by giving him fancy rides in her car as a token of her affection.
And now this. I mean. At this point, you have to ask sincerely whether the royals or the people around them have any sense in their minds left. I imagine that the whole sh-tshow with Andy has taken up their time. I also imagine that they didn’t actually think that Harry and Meghan would ever really go through with it. Perhaps they assumed that, much like the rest of them leeches, they’d be simply content to complain and live off of public money for the rest of their lives, and that the royals and their advisors could use this story as a means to keep throwing them under the bus for the next year.
It’s just gobsmackingly stupid to me that these people literally think that Andrew is more worthwhile than Harry. I hate the idea of Harry and Meghan ever leaving the royal family. It sucks so bad, and it’s very likely that I won’t be following the royals except to snark on them and then cheer on the revolution from my nursing home as a 90 year old (cuz I don’t think it’ll happen any time soon, tbh). There’s nothing left to follow. I hope that William and Kate and their fans are happy. Congratulations racists. You won.
Oh sweet Lord I just saw a story (who knows if it is true at this point) stating that H & M have been offered a reality show!?! Someone better get William and Piers a bucket of smelling salts they are gonna have a long week.
“Sussexit’
Exit is the new gate.
This whole situation is so messy!
I had really high hopes for Meghan but she has turned out to be the Fergie to Kate’s Diana
I know the people who comment on here think that MM walks on water, but I don’t. I think she is a master manipulator who has succeeded in isolating Harry from his family’. Her end goal has now been shown to get as much money out of her marriage as she can. My opinion, that is all.
Yeah, Meghan couldn’t fall for Harry because he happens to be handsome and extremely sweet. He’s just an ugly angry orgre she’s just using him for the money.
Yeah! she really planned that racist attack that could potentially risk her pregnancy so well.
My god, it is 2020 can we stop calling strong opinionated women manipulators?
My Theory is this:
H&M are super smart and clearly can see what’s happening.
TQ is 93 years old and won’t be on the throne long time, once Charles will step in than Willnot will have the Duchy money for himself, which means that zero money will be given to the Sussexes – which will force them to step back and try to figure out how to support themselves financially.
As I can see it them stepping out is inevitable and they just thought to themselves “Better sooner than later”.
I’ve read their website and I think that this move was planned ahead months ago, they just choose to release it when the leaks have started.
This is the major difference between the Cambridges and them, they are not shortsighted or lazy.
and also – can the press calm the fuck down about Kate’s Birthday, she is not a toddler and its not a big deal, i go to work on my birthday and don’t make a fuss about it, a grown-ass woman almost in. her 40s can. survive without her “Special day” ugh!!!
We all knew! This was leaked by KP who were last to be informed and they choose to use their mouthpieces to try sabotage it (hence the canada move stories prior to the announcement). Courtiers and Queen should FINALLY understood that H&M cant be played. Haven’t they learned from leaking their holiday location???? The Sussexs are always prepared for this backstabbing “family”.
They are having crisis talks to save face! I mean only an idiot wouldn’t foresee how the most popular couple being driven into leaving looks very bad for the monarchy. Especially in during brexit!!
If only the BRF had been half as incensed over the pedophile son/brother/uncle. *eyeroll*