There are two more parts of the Oprah interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex which should be highlighted. These two parts didn’t actually make the primetime special, because it’s become clear that Oprah spoke to Harry and Meghan AT LENGTH and she likely has enough material for yet another two-hour special. In unaired clips, Oprah describes Duchess Meghan telling her that the Palace wanted Meghan to be “50 percent less” in 2018. And Meghan also spoke to Oprah about the issue of “privacy.”
The advice Meghan was given in 2018: “In 2018 she [Meghan] had just joined the Royal Family. She shared a conversation with me then that really made me feel somewhat disheartened because she said she had been told, been given advice…that it would be best if she could be ’50 percent less’ than she was. That was the quote,” Oprah told anchor Gayle King. “I remember hearing that in 2018 and said specifically to her, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to survive being half of yourself.’
Meghan on privacy: “I think everyone has a basic right to privacy. Basic. We’re not talking about anything that anybody else wouldn’t expect. If you’re at work and you have a photograph of your child on your desk, and your coworker says, ‘Oh, my gosh, your kid’s so cute. That’s fantastic! Can I see your phone so I can see all the pictures of your child?’ You go, ‘No. This is the picture I’m comfortable sharing with you,'” Meghan said. Meghan went on to add to the analogy to show the lengths that photographers went to invade her own privacy. “And then if they double down and say, ‘No, but you already showed me that one. So you have to show me everything. You know what, I’m just gonna hire someone to sit in front of your house, or hide in the bushes and take pictures into your backyard, because you’ve lost your right to privacy…because you shared one image with me.”
The false narrative: Ultimately, Meghan said, she and Harry were not asking for complete privacy, nor were they cordoning themselves from their roles as public figures, as some have claimed. “They’ve created a false narrative. I’ve never talked about privacy,” Meghan said. Instead, she said, the couple was just asking to share the “parts of their lives” they were “comfortable” with giving the public access to—just like the rest of us. “There’s no one who’s on Instagram or social media that would say, ‘Because I shared this one picture, that entitles you to have my entire camera roll. Go ahead and look through it.’ No one would want that. So it’s about boundaries. And it’s about respect.”
[From E! News and Oprah Magazine]
The 50% thing is… very telling. They were terrified that Meghan was going to hit the ground running, work hard and get all of the attention. That’s all it was: pure jealousy, pure spite at the thought of this industrious, beautiful, intelligent American woman outshining all of the dull white folks. As for the privacy thing… what Meghan says makes perfect sense. The cries from Britons about “Meghan invading her own privacy” were always idiotic. And as many have pointed out, Meghan and Harry AT NO POINT said they were asking for complete privacy. As the Oprah interview made clear, they were always happy to share information and photos on their own terms.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
“50% less” = 50% less black.
I di not get what was meant by “50% less” either.
Is this in reference to the number of her engagements? If so, they got their Duchess mixed up.
It meant that they wanted her to do 50% less work. It wasn’t bad advice. It was just said in an extremely rude way. Michelle Obama also advised her to start slow and learn the ropes first.
I read it as 50% less visible, less productive, less active, less charismatic (which she can’t even control), just less… *everything.*
Because even before the wedding, she’d SO swiftly eclipsed the Cambridges in popularity, and they were trying to get her to tamp it down. They thought they could beat her into submission like they did so successfully with Kate.
If they were that concerned, they should have gone to their buddies in the press and asked them to stop covering her 24/7 with hundreds of articles a day.
And honestly, even if they’d been successful, 50% of Meghan is still far more than 100% of the Cambridges, and it wouldn’t have lessened her popularity, imo — it only would have caused even more anticipation when we did get to see her.
It was about toning down her…..her everything. her looks, her popularity, her charisma, her charm. It was only about working so much as her working emphasized those other aspects.
Remember a few days ago we were talking about how we thought that she was told to dress differently as a royal? how she was wearing blander clothes, not as fashionable as her pre royal life? And we had some discussion over whether she was TOLD or whether she CHOSE to do that, because its obvious that she was dressing differently. Well now we know that she was TOLD.
I think it’s being 50% less hardworking, personable, charismatic etc
Harry has outshined William for years. Was anyone asking him to be 50% less?
50% less… charismatic, engaging, hardworking, 50% less expectations of people. etc etc. You name it. They wanted to dull her shine.
And the thing is, compared to what Meghan is now, she WAS basically trying to be 50% less. Compared to the clothes and the makeup and hair and the sharing and speaking and issues and projects she’s working in now, she was functioning at 50% capacity when in the family. And they wanted even half of that!? They wanted 25% of her?
I think that comment explains a lot of how we saw Meghan come back to London for the “Coulda Had a Bad Bitch” engagements in March 2020. Her wardrobe and styling and appearances knocked it out of the park. She was on fire at that school assembly and in her visits with the animal rescue charity, the national theatre group, etc., looking good and doing good. No 50% less crap then! Meghan was all hot mama red, turquoise, and green at the 3 major engagements. Meghan was so lit up, Poor Kate got herself papped wearing a turquoise coat to try to pathetically compete.
When Kate joined the Firm, they must have told her to be 99% less, because she’s barely on anyone’s radar!
I read that similar to Becks. But also they just mean 50% less attention from the media
I also wonder how much it was about cultural differences between Americans and Brits and particularly the royal family. Americans are generally more open and direct, while the Brits are more reserved and less direct in speech. British friends have commented on that to me. Meghan is an openly warm person who is more likely to hug you than shake your hand, God forbid! /s
50% Less black, less work, less feminist, less outspoken, less glamourous, less charismatic, less ambitious and less popular.
Thank you, Amy Bee. It wasn’t “do” 50% less, it was “be” 50% less. I think it’s pretty clear what they meant.
@Green Desert: you’re absolutely right! It was “be,” not “do,” and I think it’s an important distinction because how is she just supposed to completely change who she is as a person? They were asking the impossible of her.
Her mere existence was so threatening to them that she caused upset simply by showing up and breathing. All eyes were always on her, but that wasn’t within her control. People just naturally loved her and everything about who she was as a person. She never stood a chance with these people.
That’s how I took it, too. If we think back to the early Sussex interviews, she and Harry made it quite clear that they were looking forward to getting stuck in to their Royal duties and getting things done. Harry talked about future Invictus games, too. I think these Games stuck in William’s craw, Very early on, it was clear that the Sussexes were already putting the Cambridges to shame when it came to the work. I think William’s jealousy, pettiness, controlling nature and laziness have a lot more to do with this story. One day, someone is going to spill the beans. And COVID Crap aside, what have Bill and Cathy done in the last couple of years? That’s right – sweet FA.
Exactly. It was coded. 50 percent less Black, American, accomplished, hardworking.
Exactly. And also that constant minimizing of women, that we’re “too much”, “too loud”, or “aggressive” rather than an assertive leader which is what it would be for a white man. Black people in general are always framed as being too much. Pure and simple white supremacist fear and hatred with a dose of misogynoir (coined by Moya Bailey).
I feel like it’s almost as much about her being an assertive woman as her skin color, to be honest, though I get that they’re impossibly intertwined for WOC. You look at the women who thrive in that kind of institution, and they’re the kind that can make themselves small, can crunch themselves down into a kind of manageable discontent or apathy. We never really got the sense Meghan was like that. She came there to work and make a statement, and that just compounded the issues on top of her race.
Exactly, Veronica S.
Basically, in order to not be seen as a threat in the BRF you need to be the human embodiment of watery unseasoned oatmeal.
(Cue an aristo making a racist joke about Scottish people and oats.)
I took it as asking her to dial down her charisma. Don’t outshine the rest of the family.
See, making a statement like that creates an inflammatory narrative that isn’t true. It very obviously wasn’t a statement about the color of her skin. It was about her stealing the spotlight. Outshining the Queen and Charles and William. Point.
It’s appalling that women (particularly women of colour) are told to be ‘less than’ or ‘turn it down’ in order for other people to ‘feel comfortable’ in life. How about you take the hint and step it up? Instead of telling someone else to be ‘less than’ who they are, maybe other people should be focused on becoming better people. Problem solved.
Because it is a chain, if they shine or work more, the next couple up would have to work more, God forbid, and by doing that they would also outshine Charles.
They were comfortable with “the boys”, and even add Kate to the mix, as she is so lazy and bland and hasn’t really improved in al areas she could (speaking, languages, actual work, you name it), just not a charismatic hard working woman with ideas.
Really the press in UK is a weird animal and that family is really scared of asking any favor to them. They could have asked the press to tone it down, as they have with the botox and hair pieces, to stop covering them or writing articles about them, instead they all her to tone it down, that meant that she could not work as she was doing, and even stop gong out, all while the press was hungry for her, I think it just created more expectations.
I think this is at the heart of the problem which created this mess in the first place. A woman of colour joined this elite institution. Through her own brilliant self, she performed exceedingly well. This did not bode well in contrast to those who had required decades of preparation and still turn out so mediocre. As if such an institution would ever allow a woman of colour to outshine a white woman. It dismantles all narrative about the superiority of white people. So naturally for them, the solution was to hurt her so that they could stand taller.
Exactly.
Well said, Myra.
Exactly.
To all the folks replying to this, thank you for adding to this discussion.
However, let’s not forget the greater and very real purpose that scapegoating a woman of colour really serves here…
Andrew’s not cooperating with the FBI for allegedly (I use that word only for legal reasons) having sex with underage girls, and he has titles, land, possessions, money, protection and freedom.
That’s why this is happening this way, and they’re using the tried-and-true mechanism of racism as a distraction to get away with it.
Hold them accountable, for all of it.
Quietly Kitten, yes, they definitely wanted to do whatever was necessary to hide Andrew. You have to add on top of that the racism. I have no doubt that the BM were thrilled to be given reign over their racism with palace approval. I think any distraction from Andrew got lost long ago, and just went forward on racism, sexism, and, well every ism.
I think many women are told to do less… Kate was and is lazy, but I’m sure Diana was also told to do less when she started to shine. And they made her life miserable when she refused to abide by their low “standards”. No one can outshine the queen or the future king. …But of course, one has to add the racism on top of it
I second the feeling like this extends to all women, really. I get this vibe from men all the time. Be less. “Don’t love sports so much. Don’t do so much. Don’t talk so much. Don’t tell me what you know. It makes me insecure.”
Yes, @GrnieWnie! I got this a lot when I was working, when people, even other women, would look askance at me if I used my brain or finished something too soon. Add that to the racism inherent in the monarchy and apparently the press, and Meghan was always going to be a problem unless the system itself changed.
I would like a HR professional to weigh in on that advice. I would read that article on a HR professional’s take.
There’s really no such thing as an “HR Professional.” That’s the problem.
Thanks for the dig Regina….18 yrs in HR and counting. Hearing about bad HR departments/people is WHY I do my job above and beyond….but please, continue to insult an entire group of workers …..
Regina – Speaking as an HR professional for most of my career before I retired, we are a necessary component of a well run business – from change management to assessing pay scales and equal pay for equal work to providing the training and guidance that employees need to do their job well. What do you do for a living?
I just went back to college to finish my degree, majoring in business. Introduction to HR convinced me the whole field is corrupt and should be burned to the ground and remade. It was all about how HR was closely aligned with company management and there to make sure the company’s financial goals were met.
So basically, a union, but evil.
Sure Concern Fae – gotcha – an intro course on an entire field of work gives you all the information you need to say it’s corrupt.
Jesus, it’s an exhausting role being in HR and trying to push against company bullshit to fight for employees and their experience. I’m SO evil fighting for employee benefits, ensuring complaints are followed through on, ensuring appropriate wages and equity are in place……yea – I’m doing the devil’s work here…..
@Concern Fae – so one introductory course and you think you know everything? I spent YEARS training to deal with everything from workplace harassment to developing and aligning salaries, benefits and bonus structures to interviewing and hiring staff. Of course we HR professionals have to align with senior management on many goals, not just how much they get paid. Your comment is utterly ridiculous.
Jaded – appreciate you!
Regina, I hear you – there are a lot of terrible HR professionals out there. The ones whose work I come across are there to protect the company, first and foremost. I work in a law firm specializing in women’s work place issues as a paralegal screening new clients. I talk to a lot of people who are sobbing and hysterical, having just been let go. They frequently mention going to HR for help, and those people always seem shocked that HR took an active role in their downfall. I’m talking “they put me on a performance improvement plan after I told them I was getting treatment for brain cancer” level skulduggery. I’m willing to stipulate, of course, that people with decent HR probably don’t call my workplace. But I tend to the walking wounded, and they are legion.
Melf, I’m sorry that’s been your experience. As an experienced HR person, I’ve advocated and had C-Suite people termed for harassment, extended paid leave for all sickness -for employees and if they’re caretakers for family…my priority is the people – not the company. I couldn’t sleep at night if that was the case. I understand that you’ve seen the other side of HR, but PLEASE, it’s a tough job as it is – don’t assume we’re all assholes…..
JDinoak – thus my stipulation. I KNOW that there are good HR people, perhaps they’re even the majority. I can only know what I see from where I sit, which, honestly, sometimes haunts me. Thanks for being one of the good ones!
I’ve been given the advice to be careful what I take to HR because they are there to protect the company not me. Personally, I think that’s great advice. Even if some of you do your jobs in HR for companies that value their workers more than most, it’s a perception that exists for a lot of employees, like it or not.
I’m with you JDinOak and Jaded. I have a long work history and the few times I’ve been in a tough spot — whether it was a private sector job or a state run university — HR successfully went to the wall for me. Have I met some bad or unqualified HR staff, sure? But, I happen to think they would have been just as bad or unqualified in a different role too, they just happened to work HR: Every profession or group has good and bad. I don’t like tarring and feathering any group like that.
I worked in HR for a few months among a pack of backstabbing vipers. One of the vipers went on to work for a university; her name came up in a lawsuit where a woman was forced out after many years of service due to a health issue. This HR viper had a “Firing Jar” on her desk. Every Friday, employees were to put a name in the jar of someone they thought should be fired. If you refused, your name went into the jar. Just looked her up and she’s been promoted.
That makes my stomach turn….assholes like that give us HR folks all a bad name….
My ex -husband had a year long affair with the married Vic President of HR at his large company. I don’t think most in HR are as low as that person, but it always ads in interesting twist when people ask me why my marriage ended. Just my very jaded take on HR.
The interview showcased to me how Meghan is clever as fuck. She is passionate, engaging and charismatic. Of course they wanted her to be 50% less! Even at 50% she would still be 100% more interesting than the rest of them!
But seriously. How insulting to tell that to a grown ass woman and demand she dull her shine for some insecure archaic institution? How do you even go about toning down who you are?!?!
And that is exactly why they are afraid of her!
“Hide your light so you don’t outshine Katie Keen and Normal Bill.”
It really adds a lot of meaning to their choice of “This Little Light of Mine” for their wedding.
Wow indeed 100%
100%
YESS!!
Or so you don’t make it obvious how little they work.
Right, they were so scared of how M was so much more than Kate will ever be. They know what they have with Kate and it’s as good as it gets at this point but M was better at everything within the first year as showed that she was just going to get bette and better and the institution decided that that couldn’t be allowed.
And then the Oceania tour hit and bam, the family went into meltdown mode.
So much I’ve wanted to say for the last 2 days especially, but as a brown woman and immigrant in the UK, it’s equally cathartic and draining. Cathartic that these conversations around systemic racism and misogynoir are taking place in the mainstream media in the UK; it’s so much less common here than in the US. I know a lot of PoC are probably feeling the same sense of emotional relief, because a lot of these burdens that we carry silently in this country are now exposed. I feel seen. But the gaslighting and bullshit discourse of ‘I’m colourblind. I don’t see race!’ or ‘are you sure this was racism’ is draining. I want to fight it but it seems pointless. I feel seen but also vulnerable. My stomach has been in knots the last two days.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there, cathartic and draining. I’m so tired and hopeful.
I understand how you feel. The British establishment will continue to gaslight and pretend racism doesn’t exist to maintain its institution of white supremacy. The same thing exists here in the U.S. But I will say that here in the U.S. people of color remain vigilant and speak out and constantly push back on it. We do our best to hold people accountable. The last four years have been particularly tough when we had a white supremacist in Chief who encouraged and amped up the racism. But the key is to never back down. Once the conversation has started, you have to keep talking and doing whatever you can to be heard and demand accountability from the government. The voices of the many cannot be silenced by the few.
They always want BIPOC women to be less to amplify yt mediocrity
This 50% less, don’t shine too bright thing is 100% the fault of Liz of House Petty.
She was the heir, starting at a young age, and- okay, my info comes through the crown- HATED when Margaret got more attention.
All of her kids are the same way, especially charles.
They were raised to believe they were chosen by some kind of god- to lead- and they are entitled.
And Charles jealousy of Diana is well established.
Again, all learned from mummy.
She is the core of the rot.
@Ariel ITA. I’m not trying to minimize the role that racism played here, not at all. That absolutely exacerbated everything by about 1000%. But I believe that even if Harry had married someone white, they still would have lost their minds if this person was more ambitious, more glamorous, more driven, more interesting, and became immediately more popular than Kate from day one. Someone like, for example, Emily Blunt. A lily-white English Rose, but someone whose mere existence would outshine the Cambridges (and the rest of the family, for that matter, since they’re all so bland and boring) every time she so much as breathed.
I don’t think *anyone* Harry married would have been left unscathed by the press because that’s just the way it works, but the fact that she was Black made her much more of a “problem” in their eyes.
They couldn’t have anyone outshining FFQC, but a Black woman?! Unfathomable. They had to go even harder on the attacks because it was simply unacceptable for a POC to be the most popular family member. They made it their mission to do anything they had to do in order to trash her. But they underestimated who they were dealing with!
Well we can’t have her out there working her ass off! That would only highlight just how lazy and useless other members of the RF truly are.
if they said this in the beginning – how much must she love harry that she thought it would be worth it? and like harry – he clearly just figured they could work through that? I don’t know.
i don’t think they realized how toxic it would get. and honestly, most of us didn’t either. but the pregnancy + Australian tour was like a one-two punch for Charles & William, and they just threw H&M to the wolves. I’m sure H&M were prepared for some bad press, but both were naive (again, as were some of us in the public) about exactly how bad it would get. It has become clear how racist the institution is, but even I was still shocked about the concerns about Archie’s skin color!
tl; dr: they expected ‘rude,’ but didn’t I think expected the racism to be shut down –and not only was it not shut down, it was stoked
@Naomi ITA, it went into overdrive after the Oceana tour because that was when it became clear that in the eyes of the world, she was no “supporting act” to the Cambridges…she and Harry together were a powerhouse.
As they said in the interview, they assumed this would be seen as a positive for the BRF — a perfect addition. But from the family’s POV, it was all about ensuring the Cambridges remained front & center. And by then, that ship had sailed; Meghan and Harry together had already made it clear how mediocre both Kate and William were. So the palace thought its only option was to rip Meghan apart and/or drive her away.
I think it goes back to what she said in the interview, that she thought she had an understanding of celebrity and didn’t realize until she was in it that royalty and celebrity are very different things. I imagine she thought that if she had been able to successfully navigate and thrive in the cesspool that is Hollywood that she’d be able to work within the royal family structure because she naively believed that archaic infrastructure notwithstanding, at the end of the day they’re a family. Realizing the depth of that error must have been devastating.
I think Harry thought he could protect her because he was the son of the future king and he had his grandmothers love. Maybe he was too naive. But at the end of the day like he said, its duty over family every time. He’s fortunate he lives in a day and age where the opportunity to earn a large income is available, especially for someone with connections. Plus Harry is a likeable guy so I think people are willing to lend a hand and then be seen lending a hand to him and his family.
It’s not naïve to expect your father and grandparent to protect you. It’s what your family is supposed to do–unless they are really horrible people. Hmm… Well, maybe you’re right and Harry was naïve.
The fact that Meghan had the courage to go out there without training and be spectacular at the job, had way too many people feeling uncomfortable, because how can a black woman outdo centuries of inbreeding? How can she go there and sound so competent in whatever she is doing? While they noble, white and rich still ask if you can smell things by smelling them. We knew that she was asked to tone it down by a lot. We just had to look at the fashion choices in 2018 and you can tell exactly when they told her to dimmer her shine. They could have really had a bad btch. Meghan was just too great for them.
Yes yes yes yes and yes.
Amen!
yes to all of this
Meghan like most actors, is used to hustling and auditioning to prove themselves and lest we forget, the entertainment industry is tricky but she had union and HR protection. She also worked outside of the entertainment industry. She took up calligraphy as a side income. She learned another language. Basically, she worked and networked. She had life skills. Something the majority of the royal family lack severely. She couldn’t rely on some trust fund or family to fund an equestrian hobby or Olympics dream. She had to work. So of course she had courage. You have to have courage to survive and she brought that courage over. Also minority women generally work twice or even thrice harder to prove themselves against white men and men. Minorities and minority women cannot coast. They have to go above and beyond.
All. Of. This. @Alexandria
I saw yesterday where the SAG union tweeted a high five and that they were still there for her! 😂
I wish they had shown that PRIVACY part,i am sick of having to correct people in comments. They never once said they were going to crawl into a hole and never be seen. They wanted to cut off the unfair RR and tabloid treatment,have their own unfiltered voices and correct any mistruths. They are a stunning,kind ,gifted,articulate couple why a should they hide?
Privacy is based on simple concepts of respect and consent. People bent on being racist and liars will not understand that even when you flash Meghan’s simple explanation onto the moon. If common sense and respect were practiced, Dotard wouldn’t be President. You can present them a fact and they will present their own.
I agree, I definitely wish that part had been included in the actual aired interview, along with the “rude is not racist” part. But then I think – well what other parts would they have cut out? they really should have made this a two part event.
I was really annoyed when I saw that clip because it absolutely needed to be included in the main interview. It wasn’t even among the selection of clips that were shown on Monday morning. It’s going to be very easy for the media (and detractors) to ignore it and continue to bleat about privacy.
Agree, Beach Dreams. I wish Oprah would have gotten CBS to cut at least one of those endless commercials so Oprah could have included this clip and the ‘rude is not the same as racist’ clip at least.
ugh man, I’ve also been told to be “50% less” in a work situation, and it definitely comes from a place of insecurity and jealousy. I’m so happy Meg got out of that toxic stew.
So if they wanted less coverage of Meghan why did they ramp up the smearing campaign? If the rf have such a close relationship with the tabloids they should have put a muzzle on them covering Meghan.
It’s like having a close relationship with a mentally ill crocodile. No good will come of it.
hahaha brilliant, persephone!
That’s the thing, they are afraid of tabloids. They think they can use them for their aid, but it is a double edged sword.
Harry found a woman perfect for him in all ways and willing to work along with him, they saw a threat that had to be cut in the bud, so they did not stop the smear, then they used that to make her stop working, but the press would not let it go, the Cambridges or Waleses can only do so much, and what they do, they do for themselves, as they have a lot of flaws to deflect from, the Rose affair, the “the Crown” affair, tight gate.
AS someone said here in a different thread “better her(Meghan) than me”
They learned nothing from Diana: Not how to deal with a charismatic person or how not to feed the insatiable media beast. Diana paid with her life and the Firm —- once again —- flunked.
@Lizzie – If they wanted less coverage of Meghan, why did they not go to the Daily Fail and request that they stop 24/7 coverage and run no more that one story a week on the Sussexes? The smear campaign by the BRF totally backfired. The only winner was The Daily Fail
I honestly think the press took what they were given and then ran with it. I think at some point even the RF wasn’t expecting it, but they had no choice but to continue to feed the beast. The family got too big for their britches in thinking they can control the likes of the DM. They gave the press more dirt for which to hold over their heads, because now the BM has the receipts proving they (BP?/CH/KP) were behind it. The royals have just indebted themselves to the press even more. How long before the BM gets tired of getting dragged before they spill to protect themselves?
@Bay, yes to all of this! I said something similar upthread before I read your comments, but this is all so true…they shot themselves in the foot with the smear campaign because all it did was increase the attention on Meghan.
If they were smart (lol) they would have asked their close friends at the Fail, etc. for minimal coverage of both Meghan and Harry, and to showcase the Cambridges and other family members as much as possible. All the smear campaign did was ensure that Meghan was a topic of conversation 24/7, and it earned her so many supporters who saw how unfair her coverage was.
But THEN they reached a point at which they had no choice but to keep it going and make the attacks on her even worse as the Epstein story started ramping up again. By then they’d created enough animosity toward her that she was perfect cover for Andrew.
By focusing on how awful Meghan was, and constantly leaking negative tidbits about her, they were able to avoid too much coverage of Andrew. Meghan had been firmly established as the villain and they had to keep it that way so no one could think about Andrew too much. Sadly, to a large extent it worked, because they’d allowed the tabloids to generate _so_ much vitriol toward her that trashing her practically became its own industry.
Agree. The only winner here are the British tabloids. They have enough to feast and dine on for months now.
they totally villanized her.
I think she is a wonderful person, but even this cultural differences and any misstep in protocol was going to be thrown at her.
The changing and adapting of people to their team, I think there were being sabotaged, including the nurse issue, as it happened with the earrings and tight gate, totally fabricated, and that came from inside the palace.
Other stories were created from outside, like the avocado toast, twisting her love of food to pass her as the stereotypical HW vegan, al to paint her as demanding, annoying, etc.
Where do the privacy thing came from? Nowhere they ever claimed to that. They’ve always mentioned they’ll work in the public eye and continue with their philanthropic efforts.
Her father, he sold her, he decided bail the wedding because he was then selling himself to the papa, and then he started to sell her and throw her to the wolves. He cannot be serious.
I loved it when Meghan said, of the avocado story, “That’s one loaded piece of toast.”
That explains the fugly wardrobe phase. So glad that’s over. I hope she burned some of those outfits.
that would make an interesting post…Meghan’s before Harry, Meghan’s dating Harry vs post 2018 through her wardrobe (like through the looking glass) and Meghan freed. (like the colours she wore for her farewell tour.
In terms of the fugly wardrobe, I thought she muted colour, but she still always looked gorgeous to me. so now, I want a review of the whole wardrobe and it being weaved into the timeline of her story. It would be interesting
Y’all, didn’t she at some point share an Instagram with the music to this little light of mine in the background? “I’m gonna let it shine”? Or am I misremembering. If so, how poignant.
That was the song that guided them out of the chapel to greet the people after their wedding. Not a coincidence, I’m betting.
It’s really incredible how insecure people are so threatened by Meghan and Meghan and Harry’s relationship. This is their main complaint: They’re TOO MUCH. She’s TOO VISIBLE. She’s FAKE.
DListed commenters, I’m looking at you too. Meghan has literally done nothing more than any of your faves. I’m sorry she won a genetic and romantic lottery and she’s living that fairy tale life you have in your heads. She can also be suffering.
Meghan used her celebrity for good, and they’re all mad because she used her celebrity as was exceptionally good at it. The other royals use photo ops to try and create celebrity and it’s a backward exercise.
Haven’t visited that site in years but I’ve seen fellow Celebitchies discuss how awful the comment section is. Not surprised unfortunately. I stopped commenting there in 2016 because that’s when I noticed a change for the worse taking place.
@Beach Dreams, same here. It used to be my favorite site, so funny and over the top snarky, in a good way. But things started to change and it just wasn’t fun anymore. I tried to pop over and look at some comments yesterday, and there are for sure some fair ones, but the hatred of someone for no real reason is just too much for me.
The site’s comment section can be a cesspool, but I noticed the worst is reserved for this couple for no good reason. I can understand playful banter (which is what the site used to be), but now everyone sounds bitter and mean.
I was just on DListed today. I don’t go on much anymore —- maybe once every 3 months or so; but, when I do, I NEVER scroll down to the comments section. I love Celebitchy and Lainey Gossip as I love their intelligent, reasoned reporting styles — especially KAISER and Lainey —- and I really enjoy the community of commenters on this site. I love how Celebitchy really filters out the trolls. I go to DListed because of the often wicked sense of humor used in posts about the Royals. It has changed though, I notice Harry is never called ‘Prince Hot Ginge’ anymore and the reporting is often hostile to Meghan.
Since Dotard become President I only visit Celebitchy and I refrain from following the news. I also refrain from commenting in social media on politics, race, BLM, Meghan etc. because I realized it’s not on me to educate people who don’t want to educate themselves. Google is free (kinda) and if people are sincere they would learn and be open to learning. I was giving eyeballs. So I just visit Celebitchy and I am happier. I recently restarted twitter to retweet or like pro Sussex tweets so that I can show my support and if Meghan or Harry comes across my small support online, I hope it helps them to know there are sane people out there who support them. But for lengthy comments, this site is my sanctuary.
Meghan was outshining and overshadowing the rest of the family, this is why she was told to be 50% less. Her last week as a working royal was proof that she was told to tone it down. A journalist in the Telegraph complained that Meghan had made Kate look old-fashioned and frumpy at the Commonwealth Day Service last year. I’m glad she disregarded the Palace in the end.
Well , she IS old- fashioned and frumpy!
I am 10 years older than them and I would not be caught dead in some of those bespoke ugly dresses she wears in a ton of different colors. My deceased elder mom had better working style than her.
Meghan was running at only 50% and she still outshone them all. Imagine Meghan, post-covid, at 100%! I’m ready.
Hadn’t thought of that, NYRO. I can’t wait to see Meghan at 100% with Archewell.
That comment encapsulates with brilliant clarity how the Cambridges are at the heart of all the abuse.
Exactly. I have a feeling that forum where all four of them spoke was the trigger for that demand.
That forum was painful to watch. Meghan just ran rings around the Cambridges without even trying. Rewatching it, you can see exactly when both William and Kate start clinching.
Yes, because there was only one couple afraid of being outshone at that point. Charles was jealous of Diana, but by 2018, he knew that William and Kate got more media coverage than him, especially Kate.
And let’s not forget how even Sophie had to go to food banks “on her own time” last year because god forbid that we see her work more than Kate. Sophie knows to do less and be less based on the fragile ego of the Cambridges.
Let us not forget a significant portion of Will and Kate’s Pre-Meghan coverage was decidedly negative, fixating on their lack of work, Kate’s flashing the world, and their outsized spending. A major thread running through was growing incredulity at Will finding new and creative ways to avoid doing royal work.
Given that we now know Charles was a LOT more involved in the Anti-Meghan campaigns than it seemed, I wonder how much Charles was doing before Meghan came along to try to get Will to take on more royal duties.
The gutter press couldn’t find anything legitimate to smear her with so they either made sh*t up or discovered the most puerile incidents (she didn’t cross her legs properly; she showed her shoulders; avocadogate; etc. etc.) and blew them up a million percent, all while the BRF sat back smugly and complacently and let it happen. If this doesn’t start the ball rolling on controlling the tabloids and ROTA then all hope is lost and England’s lost their last chance for repairing a horribly damaged monarchy.
I think a lot of this jealousy boils down to two different visions of what “public service” means. For the BRF, it’s handshaking and photo-ops — a purely cosmetic, surface-level kind of ‘support’ that requires little to no investment of time, energy, resources. Basically the public is still ‘beneath’ you and they are/should be grateful just to shake your hand.
For Meghan & Harry (as for Diana), services means being on equal footing with the people you serve. Getting your hands dirty–going out there, doing your research, having big conversations, spending meaningful time with other people, learning about them, listening to them, genuine engagement/connection. They approach it with a level of humility and earnestness, which the public *of course* responds well to. And the BRF are so isolated, sheltered, stuffy, stuck up their own a**es that they cannot fathom any royal genuinely wanting to help others.
Also, let’s just think about all the photo ops Kate & William do with people of color, especially Black children, in relation to the racism lobbed at Meghan and Archie. This is the problem when you reduce “diversity” to representation! It’s all window-dressing for an institution that was, is, and will always be racist! Just like all those brochures you see for universities that feature “diverse” students but whoops there’s no Africana Studies department.
But William is on record as stating several years ago that he wanted to get away from “the ribbon cutting and bread-and-butter” engagements and concentrate on serious issues that would have a big impact. How’s that working out for you so far, William? Kate?
Note to Palace racists and all racists: Meghan is not bubble tea that you can order with 50 percent less sugar.
@Concern Fae
I work in Hr and labour relations.. we are for the worker and not for the corporation. I’m an employee advocate not the employers. this has more to do with the culture of the business and how it is run rather than the position itself. there are supportive and effective HR depts!
One other point this is ignored from the interview, she was told from the beginning she would have no official role or budget for her. She was just the wife of. So why would she be required to do any of it if she did not want to. Example, of the baby at the hospital. They already knew he would be without security or a title so why would they be expected to show off their “normal” child? It is all just such utter foolishness. Harry did not ask for any of this, he was born into it. The sense of entitlement people seem to have over him is disturbing.
Meghan is more competent, and charismatic than anyone else in that family. She’s kinder, smarter, and more beautiful. This could not be tolerated!