It seems entirely fair and reasonable to me that Prince Charles and Prince William have alienated so many people already in their lives and now they only have each other to use as political props. Charles needs William because of William’s (relative) youth and (relative) popularity, especially in proximity with the young, photogenic Cambridge children. William needs his father because Charles controls or will control everything important to William (mainly money, power and legitimacy). They are not friends. They are not particularly close. But they are valuable to each other and they’ve finally realized that. Which is why we’re getting all of these new stories about how Charles and William’s bond has grown in recent years. Like this one from Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair, almost entirely from Camp Cambridge, but absolutely done with Clarence House’s approval. Some highlights:
The Father’s Day photo of Charles & William: The fact that Charles agreed to have the picture released on Twitter (Kate also released a picture of her with her father) indicates not only that this is a natural and loving relationship, but also just how much Charles has mellowed over the years. “He looks positively doting, he loves the picture and was happy for others to see it,” said a family friend.
Those rumors about Charles not seeing enough of his grandkids: Given that there have been rumors in the past that Charles was unhappy he didn’t get to see enough of the Cambridges, Charles has made a point of factoring more family time into his diary and it has paid off. “It has meant that their relationship has become much closer,” said a source close to Charles…. Friends say he sees the Cambridges more than ever, though it is not known whether he got to see the family over the weekend, as he hoped. The closeness is a relief for Charles, who has at points over the decades, had a challenging relationship with his oldest son.
Charles & William had ups and downs: “It’s no secret that Charles and his son have had ups and downs in the past, but the relationship today is very solid and strong,” adds the source. “It is built on love, affection and respect. They are on the same wavelength these days and when Charles talks about William it is with great pride. You often hear him talk of sovereignty and how they bond over this commitment to sovereignty. They will both be kings one day—and William’s oldest son will be king—and that is something that connects them and has brought them closer in recent years.”
Charles used to have concerns: Privately Charles voiced concerns when some years back William said he didn’t want to be king. Growing up in the spotlight there were times when William resented his birth right and was overwhelmed by the future; the notion of being king at times terrified and overwhelmed him in equal measure. He found his footing and a sense of the ordinary life he always craved in the military, and with the blessing of his father and grandmother the Queen, William was allowed to postpone full time royal duties so that he could have a career with the RAF and then take on a civilian job with the air ambulance. It meant that when William was required to take on full time royal duties, he was ready.
Their shared sense of duty: “Since getting married and becoming a father I think William and his father are very much on the same page,” said a second source, who has known William for many years. “There’s a sense of duty that runs through them both and unites them and as far as their relationship is concerned, they’ve crossed a bridge. I think there was a time when Charles worried about William and whether he was ready for the role that lay ahead, but these days he has full confidence in William and sees that he has what it takes to be a great Prince of Wales and a future king.”
Yeah, no. Would you like my take on what’s happening between Charles and William right now? Here it is. William put his father and grandmother in a tough spot last year: both the Queen and Charles would have liked for Harry and Meghan to stick around the UK to some degree. Both the Queen and Charles saw the longer view, and the value H&M would have given the family, even if that “value” was just in endless scapegoating (plus, they could hide anything behind the Sussexes’ many fake scandals). But William wanted Harry and Meghan thrown away and exiled, so Charles and the Queen had a choice to make: put William in check and fight for H&M to stay, or go along with William’s plot and put all of their efforts into protecting only the Cambridges. Charles and the Queen made their decision. And here we are. Now William is telling Charles that this is all there is. And Charles is like “I bloody know.” You might think that William has all of the power in this situation, but Charles has many, many tricks up his sleeve. If he wanted to put William in check, he could and he would. Now we just have to wait.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, Avalon Red & Kensington Palace.
I wish I could believe they wanted H&M to stay but I really don’t think they care and if they do they have no desire to fight will. And it’s a combo of both. I have really been disgusted with the BRF and how they treat one another and especially Meghan. And the bottom like is Harry is PC’s son too and he treated him and his wife and grandson terribly. Doesn’t say much for PC either. It’s a den of thieves.
its interesting that they’re changing the narrative when it comes to the grandkids. Charles’ camp, at one point, was leaking and complaining to the press that carole, kate, and will won’t let him see his grandkids. something fishy is going on. idk if it’s because they’re worried about the book or what.
I have 0 respect for Charles as a father. Idk how he sleeps at night knowing what he did and let happen to his son, grandson and daughter in law. Then again, I don’t think these people are capable of empathy.
Charles sees himself as a perpetual victim. He’s been described as full of self-pity.
He got engaged to a teenager and gaslighted her about his emotional cheating. He still has his biographers drag her as unstable while blaming his own decisions as a thirty-something on his dad. Has he ever admitted he should have been more supportive and taken better care of Diana or shown some grace and let it go?
When the Sussexit bombshell was dropped, Charles’ reaction was anger about his documentary being overshadowed. He doesn’t care.
HE said nothing while his little grandchild was ridiculed and compared to a chimp. He showed more outrage at not seeing his grandchildren, it seems to me he alienated his younger son, his wife and baby.
@Becks1, it does seem pretty stupid that the final straw was the Royal Rota issue; and, that is why I think that by the time negotiations were happening the RF just wanted the Sussexes gone. They knew that the RR was the hill the Sussexes would die on. Indeed, it was the RR that gave rise in the first place to Sussexit! I think the Queen and Charles now regret the Sussexes’ leaving (hence, the one-year review) but it is too late.
Edit: oops, this reply is to @Becks1’s comment below
I just have a hard time believing that the Queen and Charles would have to ‘fight’ the third in line, at all. He just doesn’t have that kind of power, and I think it’s silly to think that they’d let him drive the show. Now of course he WANTED them out, and he benefits greatly from them leaving. But in no way do I believe that he overpowered them in some sort of way to make that happen. These people are so protocol obsessed, I can’t imagine them throwing hierarchy out the window just because Will wanted something to happen. That also takes a lot of the responsibility for this off of TQ and Charles, and I don’t think that’s fair when they should be getting plenty of heat for it as well.
with how the press has been begging for harry to come back, the family did not anticipate that he would actually leave in the manner that he did. there were reports that they were stalling and harry couldn’t even talk to the queen hence the instagram post notice.
the plan was basically to use meghan as a punching back for being an outsider in exchange for good press for all of them. because harry was one of their own, they thought he would stay and would just take it until he reached the breaking point. now they’re all doing damage control.
with how the press has been begging for harry to come back, the family did not anticipate that he would actually leave in the manner that he did. there were reports that they were stalling and harry couldn’t even talk to the queen hence the instagram post notice.
the plan was basically to use meghan as a punching back for being an outsider in exchange for good press for all of them. because harry was one of their own, they thought he would stay and would just take it until he reached the breaking point. now they’re all doing damage control.
that’s right. charles, the de facto regent, has been calling the shots all along. i believe he
con-trolls petty betty.
these pictures and narrative are all part of a carefully crafted script to paint him as jolly king charles when there have been numerous stories of his temper tantrums, estrangement from william and love of the good life.
William has a lot of control because the family is so dysfunctional, IMO. I think Charles let William have his way a lot when he was a child, but I think it really got extreme after the divorce and then Diana’s death. I think there is a part of Charles that DOES feel guilty for how those events impacted the boys (especially her death), and I think for years he tried to make it up to William. I could see something similar happening in a “normal” family situation.
So I think there is already an established pattern, the Queen has basically checked out, and maybe there was an element of Harry “not knowing his place” (i.e. his place as William’s punching bag) and there was certainly a large element of that with Meghan (the BRF thinking she didn’t “know her place.”)
So I don’t think it was as black and white as William saying “I want Harry gone” so Charles made it happen. I think William was maneuvering for that to happen and Charles didn’t stop it, because he never expected Harry would actually leave. And I think when he said he was out, they were all probably shocked and ticked.
The queen and Charles are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think they didn’t want this smear campaign, but they didn’t stop it. I think William is holding something over them, and they can’t challenge him. If he’s throwing leaks around all over the place to save himself, then who’s to say he won’t start leaking their dirt, which I’m sure there’s a lot of. I wouldn’t be surprised if William and Kate tried that ‘skip a generation’ campaign sh*t again. I do tarot and I don’t usually bring my reading on here, but whenever I ask how any member of the royal family feels about William, the ‘devil’ card always comes up. Always. No one there is team Cambridge.
Honestly, I think Will and Kate just do pretty much whatever they want because they know Charles and Queenie won’t/can’t do much of anything to punish them.
Won’t, because they’re both so conflict-averse with either family in general or Will in particular, can’t because they’re kind of all-in on this monarchy business and really need a stable, relatively popular generation to turn back the republican sentiment (especially in the face of what will be at LEAST a generation’s worth of severe economic hardship due to the Brexit/COVID double whammy).
Then it’s already done and there’s only the clean-up, which can only do so much.
Interesting, FEBRUARY-PISCES, but not surprised. Years ago, I came across a bunch of articles saying that Prince William is the antichrist.
The very fact that William and Charles did not stop Harry and Meghan from leaving shows that no matter how many “folksy” pictures William and Charles put out, it’s still a dysfunctional mess.
yes I was just going to add something to my long comment above, lol. IF the Queen and Charles did not want H&M to leave, they would have ensured the Sussexes could stay. The royal rota really shouldn’t have been a dealbreaker and it looks stupid that that seems to have been the final straw.
William knowS the one thing that terrifies TG and that is any whiff of abdication. I first heard stories of William saying he would walk away if he didn’t get his way we’ll over a decade ago.
This article is really funny.
I do think William and Charles have gotten closer in recent years and I think it is partly due to the grandkids, I think Charles put his foot down about seeing them more (remember that OTHER vanity fair article a year or two ago about how Charles resented the Middleton’s involvement or something?) and that makes him happy.
And I think right now there is an element of “well, this is what we have.”
I also think that this is being pushed so hard because someone at Clarence House finally realized how BAD Charles looks re: Sussexit and Meghan’s treatment in the press. Charles looked really good around the time of the wedding, then during the Great Smear Campaign* many of us kept asking – “why isn’t Charles doing something?”
The problem with this current PR push though is that it looks like William and Charles bullied Harry out of the country (spoiler – they did) and as a result they are just super close now. Harry and Meghan were the problem, you see. Not William!
*re: the GSC – its sad to me because at the time, we called it a “smear campaign” but I don’t think we realized how organized a “campaign” it actually was. It wasn’t just RRs going wild with insane theories and headlines. It was directly authorized by KP.
That byline story about Christian Jones is just hovering in the background but it’s more than obvious he was sanctioned to leak about things because he’s still there. Allegations like that would have gotten other staff let go weeks ago.
I think William will be putting out PR about shadow King when Charles gets on the throne. He will unsubtly urging his father to step down. I can see this happening.
I give myself the benefit of the doubt because my personal experience with my father was almost of hatred for the kind of life he gave us. But now he is a loving grandfather and that has made me see him with different eyes. We all have our mistakes. But I no longer judge how bad a father he was, now I appreciate how good a grandfather he is. It is not worth getting stuck in the past especially when you are already an adult. Wasting my life with rancor is not something that comes into my plans. I don’t know if it will be the story of Charles and William, but I don’t live with them and I don’t judge if it’s publicity or the reality of their lives.
Misery LOVES company
Staff members for the Queen, Charles, and William are all associated with being negative about the Sussexes but only Will and Kate (and Sophie) were dumb enough to be rude to Meghan on camera and we know that KP is freaking out about their shenanigans being exposed.
Will has so many barely hidden skeletons that he can’t use Diana against Charles anymore or complain like he used to.
Will and Kate also rushed forward for every ounce of status from their titles to wield against the Sussexes so now there’s no more reluctant royal hiding from their duties anymore. No more skipping the Commonwealth Service to go dad dancing in sad-looking Swiss nightclubs or skipping the BAFTAS for Will. We’re also getting more pictures of the kids and Charles gets more time with them.
The family got Meghan out of her senior royal role and are waiting to figure out how they can slowly finagle Harry back in. Will also can’t hide behind Harry anymore.
Charles and the Queen (but mostly Charles) won.
Coincidence that the Clarence House photo is Charles leaning on Harry and KP’s photo is Charles leaning on William? That is also the most natural smile I’ve ever seen from William.
I don’t think Kate and William are done with shirking duties. Not by a long shot. They like the perks very much and it’s all smoke and mirrors. The pushing out the children eventually will backfire because as they get to be teens they will grouse about their parents not giving them privacy. Harry won’t leave his family and won’t go back without them.
I don’t believe Harry would ever consider coming back in any case. That bridge has been torched.
As many, many people can tell you from sad and painful experience: don’t go back to an abusive relationship. 99% of the time it will just be more of the same.
Edward was polite and nice to Meghan and Harry. He is the only one who has manners. The others were very rude. Especially Will, Kate, and Sophie.
Their interactions always comes off so cringe, so unlike Charles interactions with his younger son! So I take it Willy is mainly the problem, but he is the product of Lizzy and Charles’s grooming, so congrats to them on creating a monster.
I think Willy boy will effectively destroy the monarch once he becomes the POW, and that will become the Windsor’s legacy!!
Y’all bet on the wrong horse(teeth😁), Lizzy & Charley!! Cheers dumbasses!!🥂
Charles head on William’s shoulder is odd looking.
It sort of looks as though William is trying to push the point that he’s superior.
“Congrats to them on creating a monster.” Yep. Wills is a joke. In his thirties, he had to be dragged into working for the firm. And what does he do? In less than a decade he bullies his brother out of the country. His go-to expression is a perma-sneer, he makes horrible, insensitive off-the-cuff comments, and he looks genuinely disinterested in his subjects. He fakes a family man image while his closeness to Rose is now common knowledge.
At 38, his character is set. He won’t change when he’s king. He’ll be ditching the boring ceremonies (probably sending Eugenie in his place as she’ll be the only decent royal left) and be MIA most of the time. What he will do is establish a Royal Box in every sports stadium in the UK and build himself a Royal outpost in Mustique. Queen Kate and her mom, now the Duchess of Bucklebury and her sister, now the Duchess of Mayfair, will be thrilled that Wills is nowhere to be found as they will be whooping it up at the completion of their master plan. Meanwhile, the palace will continue to feed the press/public photos of the kids to shut up any calls for change.
i don’t understand why the cambridges are so keen to present themselves as some sort of perfect family so much so that it feels unnatural; that this “perfect family” image they constantly portray has become their actual personality trait at this point rather than PR. It’s so bizarre and weird as hell.
Well what else are they going to use? The 300+ engagements they both do every year? (sarcasm)
I wonder how sustainable it is because no family is perfect. They’ve forced themselves onto this pedestal, and are layering it on heavy lately, but everyone is humbled eventually. Maybe they think they can avoid it somehow. They seemingly have all the right allies so maybe so.
@Jess … I think the mass ‘model family’ effort is due to the Rose story. This push is so hard, it makes me think the Rose story is absolutely true.
This is a bit of a ramble, and very much my own opinion:
I think that once Charles is King, he will ‘ask’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to return to England. I think the Queen sided with William during their “What ‘ever’ shall we do with the Sussexes?” summit, and Charles relunctantly went along for unity’s sake.
William and Kate’s treatment of the Sussexes in that church was chilling, but it appeared to me that even William was a bit taken aback by the extent of Kate’s rudeness. William at least nodded his head at Harry and Meghan before ignoring them. I mention this because I feel it is exactly how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will treat the Sussexes once William is King.
Charles will have to include an ‘iron clad’ provision in his Will for Harry, Meghan, and Archie … because William will be ruthless.
By the time Wills is King, the Sussexes will have been fully financially independent for decades (barring any weird tragedy) and he won’t have any sway over them at all.
Willie and Kate have an Instagram picture perfect marriage. If it looks too good to be true it usually is. Couples who are determined to show the world how happy they are usually have something to hide. Regular people do the same thing on social media. But Kate is always pushing the ‘perfect’ narrative. She even had one of her fav reporters at the Sun write how when she was at school her nickname was ‘perfect kate’ or that she was bullied for being too perfect. Also every single boy at school fancied her, lol. My guess is no boys fancied her and she is trying to re-write her own history. Anyway kate seems to think this ‘perfect’ image will make her liked, it doesn’t, it’s incredibly nauseating,
Her nickname at school was Middlebum because a school prank at the time was to flash people from windows and Kate thought this was hilarious and loved doing it.
The boys were jerks and would rate the girls and Kate got middling scores. She came more out of her shell when Pippa joined her at Malborough.
Classic Middleton pr though to always insist that other people are jealous. There’s an old article insisting the other families were jealous because the Middleton kids had the best snacks when their parents came to visit.
@molly Kate’s PR is an insight into her fantasy life, where she has the perfect marriage, everyone at school called her ‘perfect kate’ and all the boys lusted after her. You can see her insecurities right there. I’ve heard the middlebum stories and it’s ironically the only story I’ve heard about Kate where I’ve find her likeable. She seems to have taken her love of flashing into adulthood though.
She can’t just take her kids swimming, in the story she has to stand in the pool in full makeup and pearl earrings. (Strange because any pool facility I’ve ever used makes you take a shower first.)
Charles doesn’t look that healthy to me. How does the Queen look in better nick?
The Telegraph also had a piece about how close they are now. I don’t buy it- when Charles was asked about seeing his grandchildren at first post lockdown engagement he grumbled& Camilla stepped in neatly to discuss her grandchildren. But it’s important for the Firm to put on an united front right now.
I can understand William having complicated feelings about Charles. The public discussions over Charles& Diana’s infidelities must have caused William& Harry so much embarrassment& pain. And Charles has used his sons to rehab his& Camilla’s image. The Windsors seem awfully cold so no wonder the Middletons were such a nice contrast.
Also I thought experts said you couldn’t be a part time royal so what is this talk of William starting full time royal duties?
Your last sentence – LOLOL. Exactly. The mistake H&M made was being too open and direct about it (and rejecting the rota, which apparently was not acceptable). But it was acknowledged that will and kate weren’t FT Royals for YEARS (some would say they still aren’t, considering their engagement numbers, and that’s WITH stretching those numbers as much as they can.)
I think it also tacky of Charles to foist Camilla on them less than a year after their mother died. Though Charles loves his children he did leave Harry to his own devices and later, Harry was the one that had to be thrown to the wolves and William spared. I think this rankled with Harry over the years and his leaving was a result of it.
Well, I’m sure colluding to get Harry and Meghan out of the country did bring them together. I said it yesterday, but Charles is so stupid for not fighting for them and helping to get rid of them. As gross as he is, I get why William wanted them gone. They’re of no use to him if they won’t be scapegoats now and he won’t need them when it’s time for his reign. Charles tho? He’ll only have the Cambridges, the Yorks (who he doesn’t want to be working royals) and the Wessexes. None of these players have the draw with the young crowd the Sussexes do, would be as good at holding the commonwealth together or garner the same among international attention. All things Charles will need to follow up his mom’s historic reign. I’m not sure he saw the bigger picture, because how could he and still play the part he did?
Anyways, it all worked out for the Sussexes in the end, I just think Charles got the shortest stick of them all.
One of Charles favorite words is non negotiable. A pity he did not apply this to Harry, Meghan and Archie.
One of Charles favorite words is non negotiable. A pity he did not apply this to Harry, Meghan and Archie.
Lol when charles suggest slim down monarchy he wants both his sons and because he knows cambriges are lazy and they need harry and his wife. That’s why charles put one year review for Sussex and hoping for them to come back. These photos are guilty way to manipulate Sussex and especially harry what he miss. But the thing is harry doesnt want to be in that family and with Meghan bullying he left. I think charles will rein cambriges once queen is no longer. If you listen to one of Sussex favor podcast in that yearly prediction they correctly predicted that Meghan will lose some of her friends and reassess her friends and their view. One prediction correctly done and that fellow also predict that William affair will come out during summer and cause lot of storm but Kate wont leave him. I cant wait for this prediction to come true.
Hopefully he will just kick her lazy arse to the curb when it all comes out.
I think he will divorce her when he becomes a prince of wales. He will wait till he got that title. he is already bored with her and will and the palace will spin his laziness as a single and divorced man and he needs lot of time to adjust. will and the palace will come up with anything to prevent the will from working. I think he will wait until Louis becomes old enough to divorce kate like how autumn does.
No reason to wait and she doesn’t deserve Princess of Wales, not to mention she would get a bigger settlement. He should divorce her now and move on with a more suitable woman than the lazy, dumb, sheltered button lover. She would be forgotten in a year.
I don’t think title means bigger settlement. William is so petty than Charles and willy and the palace will blame Brexit for less money on them plus if she settled with more money it will bring lot of scrutinies and she is no Diana to get sympathy from the public.
I think Charles will have to bestow the prince of Wales title on William cos he doesn’t automatically get it when Charles becomes king. I think if Charles is smart he will hold off and see if William and Kate get divorced. There’s no way he’s going to let kate be the princess of Wales after a divorce, she’ll literally insist on being called Princess Kate for the rest of her life.
Being POW or Duke of Cornwall wouldn’t mean a larger settlement. Diana had no claim on the Duchy of Cornwall, Kate would have no claim on it. Any settlement would be based on William’s personal net worth only. If he paid for the Middleton’s new home, what Kate might get as a divorce payout is minimal.
It’s one of those things. The ones who were glad to see H&M leave will eat up the closeness of Charles and Will, the ones who are aware of the insidious campaign will easily see it as just PR.
Nauseating, the whole mindless ‘birthright’ and effortless assumption of privilege that goes with it.
I’ve been quiet recently because I’m undergoing ovarian cancer tests and have an ultrasound in under an hour – could you keep your fingers crossed for me?
I hope everything checks out fine. I will say a prayer for you.
Good luck, best of luck for a healthy outcome.
Praying for you Andrews nemesis.
Sending hugs and keeping fingers crossed for you.
Prayers!
Sending you a big cyber hug and lots of prayers!
Good luck, Andrew’s Nemesis. Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed for the highest and best outcome for you 💗
Fingers crossed Andrews Nemesis!!!
@ ANDREW’S NEMESIS-ssnding you love, hugs and warm healing light.
Thinking positive thoughts for you, AN.
Sending lots of prayers and hugs your way!
Hoping that everything goes well for you! All good vibes and energy sent your way!
Prayers that you get good news. Hang in there …
Prayers up!
Good luck, I’m sure everything will be fine. X
Good luck, Andrew’s Nemisis! Sending out tons of good thoughts and wishes for you! ❤️
Good Luck! Here’s to your strength.
Best of luck!
Sending all good thoughts to Andrews Nemesis xoxo
Prayers going up and good luck.
Fingers and toes crossed! Good luck!
Sending hugs!!!
Oh my goodness you’re definitely due a bit of good luck after so many struggles this year. Of course you have my prayers and positive thoughts. I hope your family is doing well, now, too. God bless and keep you in his care.
I’ve lit a candle for you. Prayers for good news.
All the prayers to you. May God keep you in his arms!
That picture of William posing in a wheelchair with his dad making funny faces is in horrible taste.
Every time see that photo, I think the same thing,
Looks forced and fake.
In that article reading that Charles “liked the image” William put out of them. Like, yeah, it’s all superficial. All about images they produce. Not actual results of real fatherhood. Like a magazine shoot of fathers and sons, but they are all just models doing a job.
exactly.
Chuck and Willileaks relationship has only gotten better because someone got jealous when he saw how close H&M and Chuck were getting around the engagement and lead up to the Sussex wedding. Up until that point no effort was made by the Cambridges to include Charles, he had to complain about the lack of access to the Cambridge children through the press.
Clarence House posted a photo of Charles with Harry and William where William wore a very bitter look while Harry looked happy. I have to wonder who decided to post that one for Father’s Day.
I also thought that was an interesting choice of photo from his staff, especially because Will was looking at Charles while wearing that bitter expression. This dysfunctional family does like to convey messages (to each other and the public) through their photos…wondering what the message is with this one.
I don’t think these two were ever close to begin with and I don’t buy that they are now.
Also, they look like they were sticking it to Harry by posting that photo of William and Charles.
William posted a pic that excluded Harry. Charles posted a pic that made William look very bitter. At least their employees did anyway.
Yeah, that was very telling of the Clarence House twitter staff. But they can also pass it off as Charles acknowledging both of his sons for Father’s day. No way Willy will be able to bitch about the post without coming off as shallow and bitter!
I don’t think Charles is innocent – he should have been protecting Harry and Meghan and supporting them – but I largely think the smearing came from William, I just do. I think William has a Trump-level inability to see the long view. I think he is jealous of Harry, and when, as several have pointed out, he met and married a woman he loves and respects and who feels the same toward him, a true partner, William was super jealous. And then when Meghan and Harry got on with their work with fairly big projects and a lot of popularity, he got madder still.
I see the saccharine articles in the DM about how William now “understands” and “forgives” his father. With his late mother now being thrown under a bus. some weirdness going on now.
Yes, a stream of articles about Charles and Wills coming out now. I think Wills wants to flatter Charles in the press so Charles is on Wills’ side when all the Willileaks truths are revealed.
Wills is more than a little scared about the bad press heading his way and he is buffing up his family man, dutiful and forgiving son image to get ahead of it.
I think Charles has done a deal with the devil, and the devil tempts. If William can arrange some good press for his father and show how much he loves and supports him publically, Charles gets some good press and it makes William look good too, like they are both anti- harry. Charles better be careful about who he aligns with, I have a feeling williams karma bus is right around the corner.
Someone on here last week said that no one wanted Meghan in the family and William did the dirty work of getting her out. It seems likely.
I think that’s become more apparent throughout 2020. All the things that have come out or been announced this year show that none of them gave Meghan a chance. Any seemingly polite or kind gestures were purely for PR purposes and boy did it work for a while (especially Charles).
That could be. But I don’t think so only because they seem just to ice people rather than have a senior royal actively toss someone out.
And I think Charles and Elizabeth were blind – which is willful at this point – about precisely what Harry and Meghan were being put through, but I do not think they grasped the cruelty behind the racial aspect of it, nor were they willing to acknowledge that it was William leading it.
I believe that C&W have gotten closer because now they share a common “enemy” but I don’t believe that it will last. I think Charles is just now realizing who he has left to work with and is trying to make the best of it to save face.
In hindsight, I’m really glad that all this happened in the early years of H&M’s marriage, not that I’m glad that Meghan was harassed and abused, but that the Sussex’s got to see the true faces of the BRF and were able to get out before they had really settled in. This transition would have been much harder on them if it happened 20 years from now.
William is very smug these days. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He loves his kids, but he isn’t above using them for good PR. He doesn’t care that he has alienated Harry for life. He doesn’t care that he kept the kids from Charles for years until it benefited him to allow Charles into their lives. At the end of the day, it’s all about William.
I’m with Kaiser in believing that Charles has some cards left to play. I don’t think he’s as happy as William is with the Sussex situation. He loves Harry. He wanted Harry & Meghan to stay and be a part of the slimmed down monarchy, but William has been a snit for 3 years. Charles knows it’s best to leave William to his anger and avoid conflict. That doesn’t mean that Charles isn’t making moves behind the scenes. We have no idea who actually contributed to that Tatler article or who provided Harry’s lawyers with the information on the payments from Dan Wooten.
I still think that was Emily Andrews on her way out.
Quite frankly I don’t think he gives a damn about Harry or Meghan (especially Meghan) outside of how useful they would’ve been for his reign and that reason alone is the only reason why I think he would’ve wanted them to stay and is not as happy with how things played out as William is. He did nothing to aid them so *shrug*. I hope for his sake he has a plan to deal with William.
Yeah, if nothing else Charles is the one person in the BRF who seems to be able to run a functioning and profitable business and likely saw the great utility in H&M.
Will, well, just look at his foundation and you can see how good he is at THAT. And Queenie is little better, given the dire straits the BRF as a whole have come to due to her refusal to engage in basic, necessary personnel management.
Normally I’m a TOTAL SUCKER for these kind of pictures-the sappier, the better. However, this one leaves me ice cold. Charles looks like a doddering frail old fool. Cringe.
I don’t care for the optics on this either. It sends out subliminal messages. Charles comes across as a frail elderly man who leans on his son for support. William the Strong is younger and in dominant alpha pose standing upright with his arm around his slouching father. In any normal family photo this would be sweet, but knowing how this family operates it comes across as rather sinister and disingenuous to me.
Feeshalori – Great analysis.
It continues to baffle me that a family can put on this act if unity when a key and popular member has been effectively banished out of the kingdom with his wife and son, and everyone is oohing and aahing over what are essentially propaganda photographs to avoid deep questioning as to whether this is normal or right.
The BRF has used all it has in its arsenal to sway public opinion against a small family of three so they can continue to wear their blood soaked tiaras and have their garden parties.
I don’t think Harry and Meghan are perfect saints, but watching this all unfold is really fascinating to me.
I maintain that they never thought Harry would leave. The Queen knew it wasn’t right, but they figured he’d be like Margaret and not be able to give up the life, the perks etc for love. Meghan would leave and they would get the PR of picking up a broken Harry. Harry blew it all up when he actually walked out. And the fact that none of them thought he would shows how little that family actually knows each other.
If Meghan and Harry ever break up, I hope he’s seen them for what they are and never ever goes back regardless.
Also, I know when H&M left, it was thought Beatrice and Eugenie could step in, to Andrew’s delight and Charles’ chagrin, but I also don’t think B & E are that stupid. They know what W is about and how they would be absolutely slaughtered in the press to protect him.
I’m in the minority, I suppose, for loving this photo – it seems kind of sweet, and it’s a real choice to show Charles looking unguarded and affectionate.
That said, the narrative of “they bond over sovereignty, because after nearly 40 years of training wheels and whinging, William is finally ready to begin being keen about his role” is being pushed a leeeetle too hard here, as is the reminder of the line of succession.
Notably absent (at least in these excerpts) is discussion of the work they will need to do together to ensure that future can happen. All talk, it seems to me.
While it would be at a billion to one odds, WIll COULD have chosen a photo of himself with his brother and Charles. His choosing that one speaks volumes. That said. It is not a flattering photo of Charles and WIlliam looks ridiculous in that cap.
Does William’s smile always look slightly sinister to anyone else or is it just me, lol? At any rate, I’m done caring about Charles and the Keenbridges (sounds like a 60s British band). I’ll just wait to see what comes out in the lawsuits.
That’s because a lot of William’s “smiles” are just him baring his teeth where neither his mouth nor his eyes smile. It is really odd. I noticed the same thing in one of the Father’s Day photos.
To me he rarely looks truly happy or engaged when he’s smiling. He looks like he’s of the grin-and-bear-it mindset most of time, while other times he has a mocking, snide look in his eyes (like when he made his infamous COVID comments in Ireland back in March). I think he looked fairly ‘blank’ in his photo with the kids on the swing.
I agree. His smiles never look genuine.
Yes! Someone said he looks like and animal baring his teeth. It also seems like he isn’t listening to others speak when talking and smiling at them. He is just waiting for his turn to speak.
Exactly right because he does not have one care for anyone other than himself. He likes Katie Keen because her goal is the same as his – get the crown while expending as little energy as possible. Live the perk, avoid the work. He likes his kids because they make him look like the doting dad he will never be. He may even love them because they are his. Will he feel that way when they are older and rebellious? Who can know? I believe that if Normal Bill makes it to the throne, he will be the last Windsor to sit on it.
The family that betrays together stays together.
Exactly!😂
It’s all an act. Always has been.
That wheelchair photo is disgusting. Please do keep running it.
Look ma; it’s sausage fingers and his son, dick head.
All roads lead to Prince Charles. I’ve always believed that, and it’s almost always true. As the father of the groom and the Prince of Wales, he should have done loads more for MM. and he certainly could have. Charles understands they press better than anyone, has played and lost with the press zillions of times. He learned from the best: his first wife. His silence, lack of events with MM spoke volumes. I think he plays his boys against each other to lift himself. Prince Charles could have brought them all together, easily.
Charles cannot change William’s petulant, jealous, narcissistic personality. He cannot change Kate’s idiocy or the fact that she’s jealous of her SIL and has a weird obsession with her Brother in law. It is what it is. I do not think the Queen or Charles wanted Harry and Meghan gone, but neither of them knows how to handle William.
I see William’s hand in trying to force them out after they refused to 1) let him steal the Hubb money and 2) refused to make themselves smaller. The rumored ‘banish them to Africa’ sounds like William all the way, whereas the Queen and Charles would have prefered the half-in-half-out proposal. If they wouldn’t do what Billy wanted, he wanted them out, destroyed, and unable to be a global force.
Yes, spot on. I wish that Harry would follow up his statement, “If you knew what I know…” I’d love him to spill his guts but I doubt he will. Maybe when Petty Betty and Gnarly Charlie are dead and gone, Harry will tell all. He will surely be beyond any feelings of loyalty toward Bill and Cathy by then.
The future of the British monarchy folks! A lazy, petulant man-child and an old man who allows his son, daughter-in-law and grandson be abused and harassed by the RR and members of the BRF for no other reason than his DIL is a mixed race, American former actress who has been divorced once (never mind she loves Harry completely and makes him happy which would be a ‘life’s dream’ for many parents). Charles wants a “slimmed-down” monarchy? Oh he’s going to get it. The Cambridges won’t suddenly be working more and their children won’t be full-time royals for at least 15-20 years, if at all. I think H&M are happy with their lives now and won’t come back (at least not full-time) when the “1-year review” comes around, not without more concessions/protections from the BRF.
No respect for either of them at all. And with Katie Nicholl involved? It’s a hundred times worse. She’s completely full of it. What a huge, staged, phony pile of bollox.
The lead photo is sad. Braying Billie has some how managed to make PC look rather small and simple.
So true, Charles looks very diminished beside William.
What a pathetic farce.
And what on earth has happened to William? I am not even talking about his looks, though that particular fall from grace is rather shocking, too.
No, really, how could a son of Diana so spectacularly have failed to absorb any of her attempts to impart empathy and compassion.
I realize Diana inappropriately subjected him to some of her messier moments. And that clearly left some scars. But shouldn’t that have helped him to resolve to not visit the same kind of poor regard on his own wife that his father did to his mother? And how could he betray his brother, who is the only other person in the world who shared even a fraction of his ordeal?
One could say all children of divorce are exposed to “inappropriate scenes.” There would be “messy” moments if the purpose of the marriage to the father was begetting heirs and love had nothing to do with it. It’s a big mess. Diana disliked that William was treated more “special” by others and WIlliam’s behavior came from his own bad nature. He wanted to be treated special and maybe HE had some resentment towards his mother that he had to be treated “the same way” as Harry.
Lol everyone needs an enemy. So Will it is. I’d say a more nuanced view might be called for. The Queen is no pushover and her primary duty is to preserve the monarchy. If she supports Will it is because she sees it as the means to preserve the monarchy. And she’s right. Harry has been a perpetual screw up his entire adult life. He needs the structure and support of the RF to keep focused. He is notoriously indiscrete and shoots his mouth off. He has always been the one they worried about the most. I do not doubt they are worried about him and want him back. Harry has serious problems you all are refusing to recognize but are well known to long term royal watchers. And more to the point the UK press are well aware of. Consider maybe Will has matured and patched things up with his father. That pic is hard to fake.
Yeah, the family that raised, coddles and protects Andrew will give Harry the structure he needs. Poor Harry to not have them there to manage his mental problems. He’s too fragile.
That family likes it’s Fergies and Guy Pellys and Kate as well if she’s willing to be a doormat for William’s behavior. That was Harry’s role and he refused to do it.
Harry’s “problem” is refusing to be who you long term royalists demand him to be.
@ CATE-Sure Wiils 🙄 Sure Chuck 🙄 Sure Petty Betty 🙄
Whenever there is so much spotlight, all be it positive, it is tempting to ask What and in this case Who.
It is mere speculation, but I would not be surprised if the Sussexes have all their needs met in exchange of them to continue being working members.
It explains the positive without the annoying good/bad binary. William wants to be seen as perfect husband,father,son and ingratiating caring brother . It is as if he was a Middleton. Perfect parents in Tatler. But he is not perfect, only egotistical. It will all come out in the wash.
The only person missing from this picture is George. The heirs who will actually sit on the throne. I will make this statement and will be strong-the royal family tried their best to talk Harry out of marrying Meghan. They were all putting on a good front for the public and Harry to show they were happy for this marriage-NOT-they allowed Meghan to be lynched day one from the beginning to the end through the media to drive her away. They would never allow William to be done this way. Everybody else be damned. They had no intention of treating her fairly or decently. The lynching of Meghan by using verbal abuse in the media daily with no help from the royal family shows their cruelty and evil hearts. Racism at its best.
There are some really horrible names still called Meghan. And Harry is insulted as well. The royals just sat back and allow it to happen. And now the spin is “we gave her a warm welcome” but she “violated” protocol and “wanted to be Queen. It’s like there are teams assigned reading a script of the vile comments for blogs and such.
I am glad George was not put into the photo op. I think he and his siblings have been used as props which is unfortunate.
I think you are wrong prove it
All I got from the photo was that they were making a joke about how much taller William is than Charles. Looks like a photo from many a family album where the kids grew taller than the parent.
The “fun” between William and Charles seems a bit too over the top and forced. They are using each other. Both look ridiculous IMO.