A lot of people in the US and UK have late June/early July marked on their calendars as the start of “getting back to normal” in some kind of post-pandemic world. Will the pandemic actually be OVER at that point? No. But that’s when we’ll have a tipping-point amount of vaccinated people and that’s when many restrictions may begin to be lifted. Still, it’s best not to get too far ahead of ourselves, which is why Queen Elizabeth’s annual birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, has already been cancelled in its traditional form. Last year, the Queen still wanted a mini-parade, so she ordered one to happen at Windsor Castle, just for herself, as she sat there maskless. It’s possible the same thing could happen this year:
Queen Elizabeth’s traditional parade, Trooping the Colour, has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Plans are being explored for a scaled-down celebration likely to take place in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, like last year, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
In a statement, the palace said, “Following consultation with Government and other relevant parties it has been agreed that The Queen’s Official Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead this year in its traditional form in central London. Options for an alternative Parade, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, are being considered.”
The statement added that the annual Garter service that usually takes place at St. George’s Chapel on the Monday after Trooping the Colour, will also not be taking place.
Although vaccinations are continuing successfully and rates of COVID-19 illnesses are falling steadily in the U.K., restrictions around large public gatherings are not likely to be eased for months. Trooping the Colour usually brings thousands of people onto the streets of central London to view the procession of horseback-riding royals and carriages.
I mean… maybe they should just do away with Trooping all together? I guess the reason to do it is to encourage tourism? Do tons of tourists come specifically for Trooping? Or is it more like British people coming into London for their own “theme park” experience? As for cancelling it this year ahead of time… I think that’s actually pretty smart, and it shows that they actually learned to take better precautions FINALLY.
Meanwhile, did you know that the Queen wants it to be known that she isn’t actually full of hate for Prince Harry and Meghan?
Queen Elizabeth II is reportedly “sad” not “angry” by Prince Harry’s bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey — but has privately pledged to stand by her grandson. Harry and Meghan Markle made a series of stunning allegations during their sit-down with Oprah, including that an unspecified member of the royal family had raised “concerns” over how dark their unborn son Archie’s skin would be. The 94-year-old monarch ordered a private family investigation into the claims as she took personal control of healing the bitter divide that was laid bare in the tell-all, according to The Sun.
“She is not angry, she is just sad,” an insider told the news outlet about the Queen, who is privately said not to be livid with the Sussexes, whom she has described as “much loved family members.”
“They have always worried about him (Harry) and the Queen feels very protective about him,” the source told The Sun. “They always tried to support him when Meghan came along. They all worried less about him when Meghan was on the scene as he seemed so happy.”
I think it’s possible that the Queen is genuinely sad about the turn of events, although that doesn’t explain why she refused to allow Harry’s wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day last year, but whatever. I also think it’s interesting that there were such high hopes that Harry would fly back to the UK in June for Trooping the Colour and his grandfather’s birthday (not to mention the stupid Diana-statue unveiling) but sh-t keeps getting cancelled. Oh well.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I wholeheartedly believe that the queen isn’t angry with harry, tho after those stupid bullying claims emerged im not sure if harry isn’t angry with her.
I’ve said this before: it’s clear the queen isn’t in control anymore and that she is surrounded by some awful aides and advisers. She needs to start firing people and issue a public word of sympathy (maybe even an apology) and then effectively put a stop to this leaking if she wants to save their international image.
I doubt she’s been in charge for years but she still managed to wield enough influence in protecting her favourite son. The handling of the Sussexit fall out crisis proves a house in disarray. Sadly Will Jong-un the statesman is too stupid to hire non sycophantic aides and advisers and his dad only cares about his mistress turned wife.
Yeah but how do we know that’s not Charles at work too? If Andrew is arrested and imprisoned, that is really not a good look for the monarchy too. What if Charles was also involved in 1 or 2 Epstein parties hmmm…this family is nuts!
@alexandria I actually wouldn’t be surprised at that. Maybe charles and camilla had a romantic getaway on epstein island
@alexandria — Oooh, good point. I’ve often wondered how Pedo Andy continues to be protected by ALL in BP, and neither KP nor CH has issued any statement. Yes, the Queen wields considerable power and influence in her sphere, but why no leaks from CH or KP by now? Could it be that Andy has threatened to drop some receipts on the other royals if he’s not sheltered?
After all this time, if Charles was in anyone’s little black book related to Epstein, it would have been outed by now.
@ Elizabeth Regina: “Will Jong un”-PERFECTION!!!!!!!
“Will Jong-un”. OK, this is my new favorite nickname for PW!
Nooooo it’s obviously Kim Jong Will!
And here I was considering “Il Duce”, as in “Il Duce is always right!”. Now I’m torn.
But, how is she supposed to do this if she is not in charge?? I’m sorry, but this situation makes ME sad! I do not think the Queen is in control and I think her courtiers and Charles will not let her take back control, if she even can at her age. She is 94. Unlike Charles and William, the Queen has no “close friends”, “social circle”, etc. Every one of her contemporaries is dead, if she would have talked to them in any case, which I somewhat doubt. She didn’t go to school, she doesn’t have “old mates” to get her side out. Who exactly can the Queen call if she wanted to leak “her side”? No one. I don’t believe that any of these ‘insiders’ are speaking for the Queen and I certainly don’t believe that the actually speak TO the Queen, nor would she ever speak to them about this topic! Charles, William and their nasty aides are using the Queen, and more precisely her name, to spin whatever idiotic story they want at the moment. I really fear if she tried to fire people, they would ignore her. It’s also not clear she can fire people in their palaces, not clear how the HR thing is set up, but I think unless its Buckingham Palace, Charles and Wiliam are in charge of their own palaces. It’s not Buckingham that is leaking and smearing Meghan and Harry.
@LadyE
Well said. I think someone else made the decision about the wreath. I don’t think Queen Elizabeth would have minded at all. It’s really sad that it’s becoming more and more obvious that she is not in control and has little say except for things that drive us here, nuts.
My father is 99 years old and he does not allow himself to be railroaded. He has all of his faculties and can be very stubborn. Queen Elizabeth on the other hand has so many people overpowering her I don’t doubt that she is being railroaded and has been for decades actually.
Charles and william are using the queen for their stupid stories but its up to the queen to put an end to that. She isn’t the little powerless 94 year old some take her for. Don’t forget that their reputations matter the most to both william and charles. Buckingham palace has a media office too. And if both charles and william both piss her off she coyld just “leak” to the media that she’s most displeased with how william and charles are handling the sussexes. It would be a significant move which shows that the queen supports the couple while putting the onus to stop leaking false and negative stories about M on charles and william. Trust me. If this were to happen things would change significantly.
“ It’s also not clear she can fire people in their palaces,”
Well, if Netflix’s The Crown is to be believed, she doesn’t have that power either. I remember in Season 1 she wanted to replace an advisor with someone she was more familiar and comfortable with and that Tommy Lasalles dude told her she couldn’t. Because it was a position that was essentially inherited and passed from aristocratic family member to aristocratic family member.
As far as I can tell a LOT of the most powerful positions in royal courts are filled by aristocratic nepotism and not by being qualified. That’s why they are currently surrounded by idiots out of touch with the real world.
@cecilia- I don’t agree that the Queen can (nor do I believe that she would, not how she rolls) leak anything about her feelings. Remember- Charles engineered a coup of her private secretary. She doesn’t have loyal Buckingham staff anymore. They are Charles’ people. If she tried to “leak” her view, they’d stop her.
She may not be in charge of much but she certainly let her dresser, Andrea Kelly, smear and bully Meghan on a number of occasions. She went for public church rides with Andrew after Epstein’s death. Pretty sure the Queen could have said, take the next car, or Kelly, make an appointment with Meghan for her hair/tiara fitting. Or, cancel whatever is in my schedule, my grandson is in crisis.
@ladye I understand what your saying but the queen is the queen. If she wants something to be known it would be in the news papers. Im sorry but you cannot tell me that there’s no way of going behind the back of her aides. Plus it would be an unlikely move, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible. It is clear that something must be done for the sake of the monarchy because williams rep with people my age (18-30) is as bad as his fathers. And these are both the heirs to the throne. Throwing the sussexes under the buss won’t work for long.
I’m getting the feeling that the Queen didn’t actually know how bad it was until the interview. I doubt anyone told her or allowed Meghan to tell her that she was suicidal while pregnant and denied help. I don’t think the Queen realized all the coverage was full of racist dog whistles—she may not be that culturally with it to even know what “straight outta Compton” means and implies. And she likely had no idea that the press were getting their smear quotes and negative stories directly from the palace staffers and courtiers and even the royal family. She probably thought, like Meghan did at the beginning, that the palace would protect Meghan and help her deal with anything. We know that Harry has been saying for years now that he could not get in touch with her to talk to her or stay with her face to face. Meetings were cancelled, visits were cancelled. They were isolating the Queen specifically from Harry and Meghan and I would think the big reason would be so that h and m wouldn’t be able to tell her directly how bad it was getting for them and what sort of private consequences and public press coverage was resulting for the jealousy and backbiting and infighting at the palace.
I don’t think she’s been making hardly any decisions over the past 4-5 years, so I really doubt she made the wreath decision and then leaked that she made the wreath decision, but if she did make that decision, I can see her making it in the context of wanting to make sure that the public understood that Harry wasn’t a full time royal anymore as opposed to making that decision purposefully as a snub and smear to add to a whole line of snubs and smears against her already extremely emotionally fragile and struggling grandson. Does she even honestly read all the papers anymore? And I guess even if she reads the daily papers, that’s one version of the paper each day that has a limited amount of royal articles in it, it’s not like the mail online where there are 10+ hateful articles A DAY posted and then 5,000 nasty comments under each one. I don’t think you can grasp the full extent of the racist, unrelenting hate campaign against Meghan if you’re only reading the physical paper, even if you read it everyday. I think she probably was briefed on the fact that Meghan was having a hard time adjusting and that she found the press coverage “intrusive,” and the Queen thought that that was normal and it would resolve itself with time: Meghan would feel more comfortable and learn all the rules and the press would move on to something else.
Harry says he’s spoken to his grandmother more this past year than he has in the decade before that, and I think she knows now what’s been going on, especially since the Oprah interview dropped, and that’s why she’s inserting herself back into palace operations more suddenly. Not wanting to go with the angry point by point rebuttal statement that will and Charles wanted to put out ASAP, saying she wants things to be dealt with privately as a family and not out in the press (William isn’t listening of course) and she keeps reiterating that she’s not mad, she loves Harry and Meghan very much, and she is sad for them and for the situation. She shouldn’t have been absent without letting the public know before all this though. The press and the public were so willing to swallow and justify the smears and the punishments and the denying the wreath and the lack of security for the Sussexes because they thought it was all coming directly from the Queen, whom they respect and revere. It had been known all along that all these statements and leaks and decisions “from BP” were actually Charles, I don’t think people would’ve just automatically accepted them as good and right and jumped through hoops to defend everything because no one really likes, respects, or reveres Charles like they do the Queen.
Original Jenns, about the letting Angela Kelly give Meghan the run around about her wedding tiara and fittings, I think Angela did that behind the queens back. Remember how it came out that Harry finally had to go to his grandma and tell her that Meghan wasn’t getting any responses from Angela about her tiara fitting and the Queen had to tell Angela Kelly to get it done and work with Meghan?
At this point, I really do think the Queen’s staff just sort of run wild and operate on their own, doing whatever they want. I often get the sense that these royal courtiers and staff people think that they are above the people they work for sometimes, like they don’t actually respect the family, probably because they’ve witnessed first hand how inept and NOT serenely high and anointed and blessed by God these people are. They know that the only reason the whole monarchy doesn’t fall apart is because they, the staff, keep it running by enforcing all the protocol and telling the family where they should be going and when, and planning the big displays of majesty, and leaking and working with the press to make sure there’s sycophantic coverage all the time.
AK is looking out for her future and wants to please the Charles / William court so that she can still have a job or some type of title / pension after the Queen dies. So she has no qualms not co-operating with Meghan and restricting the royal jewellery from her.
@AMYTOO somwone said it before, that the queen living this long (or clinging to the throne instead of abdication) has created a power vacuum. I think it is a mess and there is no clear leader, which makes things worse.
Charles may control things, but as he is flawed and has touchy issues which affect his image as the Diana/ Camilla thing, that makes him vulnerable.
Add to that that William certainly seems to be undermining him for his own gain. Maybe he doesn’t WANT to be king right now, as he is lazy, but he manipulates press and opinion to get what ever he wants.
If the Queen had passed or given in ti Charles maybe 15 or 20 years ago, things would’ve be maybe a little different.
Oprah straight out asked why the Queen couldn’t just do what she wanted because she’s the Queen. It took Harry quite a while to answer. He said she had advisors giving her bad advice, but the hesitation in answering communicated to me that the Queen really isn’t in charge at all. I think he meant Charles and William are being given bad advice.
If the Queen really did still wield power, why isn’t Harry upset with her about the poor decisions being made? Why are they still zooming? He does not appear to hold her responsible in any way. If she had the power to resolve this situation I would think he would be upset with her as well.
I don’t think Kelly has a chance of sticking around once Charles is king. If you notice, he has kept all of the jewelry he inherited from his grandmother. It may be those pieces, for Camilla to wear, are kept at Clarence House safe from Kelly’s influence.
AmyToo i believe you are 100% right about the Queen’s motives and lack of knowledge. This feels the most like her. Also I wonder if this new sense of support from her has anything to do with Gayle King’s remarks about no one calling Meghan? I believe that comment has taken root and we will see a pivot from the RF towards « care and concern » for Meghan
Kelly is in her mid-60’s and has been working for TQ for close to 30 years. At this point, while TQ is still around, I suspect she’s looking for a nice retirement package, if she doesn’t have one already. IIRC she has children, so once TQ passes would be a good time to close this chapter and focus on other things. I doubt Charles will have much use for her, for a variety of reasons.
Thousands of comments about Petty Betty and suddenly we are bending over backwards to give her a pass because Harry said they were on speaking terms.
The buck stops at Buckingham — stop making excuses because you want to blame Incandescent Willy or Inept Chuck. Why are we carrying water for TQ all the sudden?
I agree that I don’t believe the Queen is angry with Harry (or Meghan) and hellbent on punishing them. H+M have made a point of saying multiple times that their relationship with the Queen is fine and we should believe them. I honestly think that the whole wreath-laying debacle was engineered by courtiers (and maybe Charles and/or Will’s influence) going around her. I think it’s entirely possible she didn’t realize that was done until after the fact and at that point, she’s going to go back to her tried and true method of “nothing to see here, people”.
The old hag has objectively nothing to be angry about. Do you remember the infamous day the photograph of Harry’s wife and son was removed from her desk? How can you wipe loved ones out of the picture for the whole planet to see, and not expect any drawback!
Except that Harry isn’t upset with her. She’s 94 years old and we really don’t know what her faculties are at this point. If her short-term memory is impaired, it would be very easy to arrange things in the moment contrary to what she had said or agreed to even the day before. Did she even see the desk before she sat down at it? Harry and Meghan have made it clear nothing is as it seems. It just seems strange to argue that she’s responsible for these decisions when he clearly doesn’t think she is. If Harry thought she could do anything to resolve the situation why does he so adamantly defend her? He went out of his way to tell the world neither she nor Philip made racist comments. Even when he was wiped off of her schedule, he didn’t seem to hold her responsible. His description made it sound like she didn’t even realize there was a conflict until he called her on the phone.
I’m amazed how much of a pass the queen is getting here. Remember how she treated Diana, not to mention Margaret. When has she ever shown sensitivity to Black women? I don’t think we should default to assuming she is a nice little doddering old granny who has no idea what’s going on. Nice is a funny word for an imperialist and colonialist.
@bloemheks
Or Harry may be aware of the Queen’s popularity and so hesitant to blame her for what’s been happening.
Or Harry may be blinded by his personal affection for his grandmother and so hesitant to blame her for what’s happening.
Doesn’t matter why. She’s in charge, she’s at fault.
EXACTLY !! What happened to the last year of Petty Betty? She is either the Queen of bloody England or she isn’t.
Pick one.
@ Elizabeth: I wish you would patent the phrase “nice little doddering old granny who has no idea what’s going on.” It sends me rolling! The queen of the English and of those who recognize her as such is indeed old enough to be endearing but still sharp enough to be wicked. Didn’t her mother outlive the limits of decorum and idleness till the age of 104?
As a white woman, I’m really sick of other white women who are credibly accused of racism weaponizing “white woman tears” to get out of being held accountable for their crap behaviour.
We’ve seen KKKate doing it, and now Lillibet Cabbage of House Petty. Within a week we’ll probably be treated to Camilla being rolled out, wringing her hands and crying about how “Charles is misunderstood” and emphasizing that the family isn’t racist.
Pull the other one, BRF. You know you’re in the shit, so you announced a “diversity tsar” to oversee all three Palace courts. Meanwhile not a damn one of you has 1) spoken to Meghan to offer heartfelt apology and see HOW SHE WOULD LIKE THE BRF TO MAKE AMENDS TO HER AND ARCHIE, 2) called off the racist BM or demanded an independent commission to investigate race/gender/class/xenophobic bigotry in the BM, 3) Affirmed that Archie will no longer be treated by BRF, Chaz in particular, as “illegitimate offspring” and make him part of the succession as is his birthright, 4) Put Meghan’s name back on Archie’s birth certificate.
Haha I love you! It is true! There is this unrelenting false presumed innocence of all these women based on their whiteness that is a problem
I missed something – how was Archie taken out of the line of succession?
I don’t think she’s ever been in control.
Me neither, I’ve actually never thought this whole thing washer, I think like phillip, they took the reigns of her about 3 years ago. It’s just the courtiers and William messing with this shit now.
Yep I’ve never thought it was her actually I think for minimum the last 3 years like what they did to Phillip, they’ve completely taken the reigns off of her. It’s just been William and courtiers playing big boy.
I don’t know how many tourists come to the event but it is evidently a money maker. There are tickets available for certain levels and dress codes to follow if you are in the area where the troops are reviewed by the Queen or the military. Members of the general public, I gather, take their chances on being able to see by standing along the route. It seems to be mostly a parade of the military and the Queen and a fly-over. I don’t see why tourists would be greatly interested.
I guess it’s an interesting event if you’re there already but i don’t think tourists fly over to london just to see trooping.
Yeah. I remember visiting London years ago and my Dad wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace in the spur of the moment. It was Christmas Day and there was nothing else to do.
Snuffles, when I visited Prague, we got to see the change of guard at the castle. It was great. No monarchy there, tho, but still plenty of tourists.
I wish they’d just say, “We’re canceling Trooping this year, and we’d like any money that would have been spent to be donated to the NHS instead.”
I went the year I was in grad school in England–I wouldn’t have organized a trip from the states just for that, though. Then again, it’s generally a nice time of year to visit, so I can see having it on the list of things to see & do if you go on vacation. Changing of the guard was a bit of a snooze, though.
I doubt that it really has a pull for tourism. If it does, maybe people from the Uk because no one from mainland Europe is planning their visit to the UK around the trooping, let alone people from outside Europe. Queeny is probably sad because her legacy is going to hell. You reap what you sow Betty.
Oh dear. Sinking and shifting sands all around. The queen is definitely not in charge anymore.
Yes, definitely not. One minute she is apparently laying down the law that the family will handle everything privately and the next people are leaking to the press about what *she* thinks. Not to mention – and I’m sure Kaiser will probably cover it tomorrow – but Willileaks went on a huge press offensive through the Daily Mirror and Sunday Times today in the UK on multiple fronts – how he feels about Harry, how he talks to his kids every night about Diana, how things are going to be “more robust” when he is King, how he isn’t trapped, thanks very much, how much he admires the Queen’s example, how Harry leaving has made him closer to Charles, how BOTH Kate and Meghan cried at the interminable bridesmaids fitting drama….on and on and on.
Will Jong-un is constantly outing himself as the one who made the skin tone remarks. He is doing too much and sadly all his pathetic PR attempts have failed as they have played to every racist trope. His laziness and lack of solid achievements for the most of his life should be his priority. He needs to get off his high horse, apologise to his brother and sister in law and stop with the foolishness.
@Elizabeth REgina How have they failed if Harry and Meghan’s approval in the UK is in the toilet and his is just going up? Within the UK it would seem his strategy IS working.
@bloemheks, Harry and Meghan are popular with young Brits. William is popular with Tories and senior citizens. Also, H&M enjoy global population, whereas William and Kate most definitely do not. And H&M are extremely popular in the U.S., while again, not the case with W&K.
@bloemheks — Precisely. It’s working IN THE UK. It’s not working anywhere else.
And the polls show a tremendous generational divide: 50+ years and up approve of the Cambridges, and those younger take the Sussexes’ side. This is going to be a tremendous problem for PwBT and Ofwilliam. The older generations — the ones that venerate and worship the Queen — are dying out. The reactionaries — middle-aged conservatives, wealthy aristocrats, would-be aristocrats and social climbers, and Tories — aren’t getting any younger. (I realize there’s a lot of overlap in that particular Venn diagram.) And everyone else — the younger, multicultural, accepting Brits — already don’t give a flying rat’s azz about the royals, and if they do, they stan the Sussexes. By the time PwBT takes the throne, some 15-20 years from now, all of the royals-worshipping crowd will be diminished, and he’ll be left with a bunch of non-worshipping, indifferent or outright hostile, nonconformist republicans (small r), who are wondering why one family gets to live in the lap of luxury while everyone else suffers cutbacks and austerity.
All I can say is, PwBT better hope and pray that he becomes king during a period of unrivalled growth and prosperity. And after Brexit, I just don’t see that happening.
Also, as someone who has worked in and with research, you can get polls to say whatever the hell you like based on who and how you question. So the You.gov poll that popped up showing H&M’s so-called approval rating had fallen through the floor was almost certainly yet another PR move by the palace. As Merricat says – if you’re old and British you’re on the ‘royal side’, if you’re young and using social media then you’re usually on H&M’s side.
@booboocita I wonder if William is smart enough to know that. I could easily see them showing him positive numbers and telling him it’s working. Is there anyone around him who tells him anything other than how great he is? I didn’t use to think politicians and powerful people could be as stupid as Trump and US Republicans continually prove they can be. The RF seems incredibly inept and unable to even hear reality. Thackery’s book pointed out that Charles surrounds himself with yes men.
@Merricat exactly right, and while that may be good for now those are NOT the target demographic he needs to impress these people will be dead in a few years and all gone before his reign.
Exactly.
Does she even know Harry was denied the wreath request? I don’t trust the DM and what the courtiers leak to them. Not absolving her of responsibility but there is a reason why HM doesn’t blame her outright. She can’t even stop the current leaks. Do they even give her the tabloids to read? It’s all suspect. For all we know Charles or William denied the wreath request and are hiding behind the Queen.
THIS.
Agreed. I can believe she’s being micromanaged by her courtiers who limit and control the information she receives. People that age live and die for their routines. It’s not like she’s on Twitter and surfing the net to see for herself. That’s why Harry always wanted to meet with her directly and her courtiers always tried to prevent that from happening. They clearly know the Queen has a soft spot for Harry.
And I think that soft spot is a source of jealousy to Charles and especially William.
William always try to portray this image of Harry being isolated from the family but I think it’s the opposite.
This. I think she is so micromanaged at this point that she has lost a great deal of power and control. If she did watch the interview, I do think it was probably very surprising for her and I can imagine she would be sad by what happened on her watch.
I think William is feeling her wrath and that’s why we’re seeing his propaganda machine go into hyperdrive.
I the queen has lost significant amount of power over her household but i don’t think she’s as clueless as people want to believe she is. Don’t forget that she showed andrew PUBLIC support after his disastrous interview. She could have done the same for meg but choose not to.
I suspect the micromanaging of her extended to that Andrew car trip. To the Royals the press are always the enemy so it would be an easy sell for the favourite son to tell his mummy that the press were being nasty to him and not believing all the TRUTH he spoke in that interview and she would have happily patted the seat beside her in the car and spread the tartan blanket over his knees too.
I think there’s a vast difference in limiting access to your grandchild and your son via courtiers/Charles/whoever. It is far more likely Charles was able to run interference more effectively with his own son vs his brother as far as access to the Queen. I was very close to my grandmother and occasionally went around my parents to her, and she was always supportive of me. But my mom was her child and once I was an adult, my mom was definitely more involved in the day to day happenings with my grandma than I was. And frequently info and contact was filtered through her. I think it’s very believable that the Queen (esp in the absence of Philip as enforcer) let Charles handle his own kids especially as they aged and he took on more responsibility (or insisted on it). I think it took much more work for him to get in between Andrew’s access to his own mother (which was clearly always allowed IMO and less managed) and put his foot down.
Tje Hench, I picture the queen trying to watch the interview, and the courtiers showing her only parts they consider damaging, or loudly singing LA-LA- LA in her ears or stepping on a corgi to distract her. For real I think they keep the older ones mostly in oblivion, like showing the award speeches a few seconds later to edit whatever the TV chains deems unfit to show the viewers.
@bitsycs – yes, good point, that makes sense on the son/grandson accessibility. @ennie – haha – I’m sure they do! And we know she didn’t actually watch the Andrew interview itself because we had all those hilarious stories after it about him reporting to her that it was a resounding success. It was Charles who hauled him into Buckingham Palace and gave him the carpeting that led to him ‘resigning’ from public duty the same day.
I don’t know. It seems awfully convenient that now she courtiers to hide behind when people are calling her out for being petty and cruel towards her family members.
@Harla fair point. I think we can all agree though that regardless who is in charge now or how much Betty is deciding, the Palace is a huge mess now. Courtiers and staff including personal dresser are playing game of thrones now and the Queen’s death will likely exacerbate this game. Everyday I think about how Harry got his family out this early to avoid inflicting this on them. Once the Queen is gone, it would be William vs Charles and whoever stuck in between would be collateral damage. And we have not even considered the conniving Middleton court. It’s not looking good for the UK people and the next generation of royals.
I take your point, but when we know that Jason Knauf and William are doing things like the fake bullying allegations, it makes you wonder how the wreath thing came about. It is easy to see William trying to punish his brother on a way that he knows would be hurtful.
The Queen most likely has no idea how powerful social media is. She’s looking at all of this through the lens of her experience, which is much different than the way the media works today. I highly doubt she understands that most news is now read online and that these outlets publish 10, 20, sometimes 50 negative articles about Meghan A DAY, spread throughout the day. I’m not sure she can even comprehend that people are exposed to this information 24 hours a day and can now interact with the outlet and each other through comment sections and social media. It’s a completely different paradigm than when people were exposed to a handful of negative articles once a day in the daily edition of whatever tabloid(s) they read and didn’t have the ability to discuss with anyone other than the people they talked to on the phone or physically came in contact with. They can now discuss it with hundreds of other people all day long.
I think that’s a HUGE difference. The articles that are posted online are often way more negative and conspiratorial than the ones in the actual paper edition that she supposedly reads. And then in the comments, like you said, people get super negative and throw out even more bizarre conspiracy theories and then you’ll get the actual author of the article tweeting stuff like that, or liking those tweets, or responding to unhinged comments. A lot of damage can be done just by reading what these royal reporters post on social media. The things that would never actually make it into an article in the hard copy of the newspaper because it’s just way too much, too negative, too crazy and editorialized, gets posted on their Twitter pages and then people consider it give truth because a “reporter” posted it. Just the sheer quantity of online articles, and tweets, and memes, and Instagram posts, and comments to all of those things leads to obsession. And when all those extra, non-hard copy things are negative, then the obsession turns to pure hatred. And then how much TV does she watch? Is she watching Good Morning Britain? Is she aware of the 24 hour nature of TV “news” and how often royal reporters and commentators are on TV, speaking directly to the public, about why Meghan and Harry are the worst people in the entire world? Does she realize that the “news” isnt Walter Cronkite anymore, it’s Piers Morgan going on 10 minute long, uninterrupted rants about why everyone should hate meghan?
So the Queen doesn’t see or even know about all of that extra stuff, and then she likely also doesn’t realize just how polarizing and hateful the coverage is. Does she know how far apart the right and the left have become and how almost anyone or anything can become a hot button issue that people will literally scream and swear at each other about? That actual “reporters” will scream at each other about on national TV? I don’t think she does. I think she was probably told that Meghan and Harry were getting a lot of press coverage and Meghan was finding that difficult, and she assumed it was just about the amount of photographers that show up at their official events and how disorientating that can be. She wasn’t imagining a 24/7, 3 year long racist, sexist, anti-American hate campaign in every single sector of the media being driven by the same royal rota that the Queen and all the other members of the family rely on for positive press coverage. Does the Queen know just how brazen and blackmail-y the royal rota has become? She, personally, didn’t have a lot to hide in her personal life, and she also never really had to deal with the constant 24/7 new cycle that must always be fed, so she probably doesn’t really even understand the concept of daily having to trade horrific, made up stories about someone, anyone in return for the rota not exposing your awful secret today. Even if she’s familiar with the “I’ll give you this if you don’t report on this,” way that it all works, I don’t think she realizes that it’s not just like “what will the royal reporters write about in the Sunday paper this week?” and instead it’s more “what will they report on this morning, and then this afternoon, and this evening, and tomorrow, and the next day.” The amount of coverage now means that the reporters need 50x more content and if you don’t keep giving them something about yourself or someone else, they will very gladly start reporting on your naughty secrets. And those naughty secrets will not just be written about once in the Sunday paper, they will be written about 20x a day online AND reported on 20x a day on TV today and everyday for weeks or months.
You know, my Mother is a powerhouse. She ruled us. The Queen is the Queen. If she truly rules her family she can bring down the iron glove. She should call a conference with Charles and William and lay down the law. She needs to read the riot act about their behavior and come to a consensus about how the family moves forward. If the future of the monarchy is important to them they must decide to move into the 21st century with their attitudes and actions.
Wouldn’t it be so fitting if the Queen dissolved the monarchy before her passing?
She has a ton of knowledge through experiences, and she is seeing history repeat itself.
It would truly make her the last leading royal whom was loved and had sincerely dedicated her life to service of the British people.
She may be 94, but I do know she has courage and bravery. Imagine as a woman she has had to deal with her fair share of obstacles thrown her way.
I really doubt she can dissolve the monarchy if she wants to. I believe she would be stopped. The men in grey are dependent on the monarchy for reasons we can only speculate on. This is a woman who rarely takes a stand on so called controversial, woke issues. She rarely gives interviews. Why would she or her men in grey do something as radical as dissolving the monarchy? I think either William would dissolve it (only after he goes through the pompous crowning) or they will go for the Swedish model, which helps as a good excuse to lessen their workload. The kicker is if they go for the Swedish model but their expenses remain the same or higher.
The queen is not going to abolish the monarchy. Lol.
And l doubt that decision is solely hers too. There’s Parliament to say the least plus whatever other government entities that would be involved.
@Texas.T-Rex Truly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever read on this site. Why would a woman, who is unremarkable in every way except for the circumstances of her birth, reject the reason that makes her “special”?
@Chill
I believe that the Queen wants do that but she no longer can. And that is what is really sad. it”s become more and more obvious that the Queen is being prevented from doing the right thing by Harry and Meghan. I don’t believe for a second she would have ever wanted to compromise H&M. I know that’s an unpopular opinion here.
I am 100% with everything you wrote, Souple!
Well said Soupie! Wishing everyone the best during these difficult days.
Every family has drama and struggles. Hope they are able to heal in a healthy manner.
Lead the way Queenie, you’ve got this.
I don’t know your mother, so I’ll just have to go with you there, but I don’t know how we can imagine that a 94 year old woman is necessarily in control of all of faculties in the same way she was 40 years ago. Some 90 year olds are, some aren’t.
And if all the pieces and television shows are to be believed, there’s a real push pull between the courtiers and the Royals, with some of them wielding more power in some ways. We can be disappointed with the Queen, but it might be misplaced.
The Queen wasn’t the one to handle family matters. Philip was the one to take care of that and I think we are seeing the chaos because once he retired a few years ago, he stepped away from that too.
This. She has always left the family management to Philip. We’re witnessing the results of him winding down for the last decade.
My grandmothers started losing their faculties in their early 70s, and had lost them completely by their mid-70s. You can’t extrapolate from what your mother is like to what other women are like. Further, the queen has less power over her family than an average woman does, and I’m not sure with her temperament she ever could have wielded it anyway.
H&M’s warm comments towards her (& Philip) kinda torpedoed the cruel queen narrative. It’s hard to hide behind her and make it seem like she’s the iron fist behind all of this when she seems to have the best relationship out of her, William and Charles.
Yeah, I was really surprised about the comments Harry made in the Corden interview – she sent a waffle iron to Archie! It was so sweet and different than how I’ve perceived her during this whole thing. When Harry dropped the fact he doesn’t talk to his father in the Oprah interview, it really shifted the narrative about who’s had a hand in the terrible behavior coming out of the palace. Not absolving the Queen but she still sounds invested in the Sussexes as a family whereas Charles/William view them as the enemy.
Can you imagine the heads exploding in the palace should her Maj fly to California to see them? I would laugh so much. However could William/Charles spin that to make Harry look bad?
Exactly. I’d say it makes sense to listen to Harry himself when he clearly, repeatedly goes out of his way to stress he and Meghan both still speak regularly to the Queen, that neither she nor Phillip were responsible for the skin colour remarks over Archie and that it was the courtiers that blocked his access to her at critical times. Seems kind of crazy for us lot to ignore Hazza and come up with our own theory that the Queen is not what Harry says she is and has not behaved towards H&M the way H&M have said she has based on…er…um…random guessing.
So the queen is allowed to make it known how she feels but everyone gets alarmed and furious when H&M say anything via interview or Gayle? H&M were silent for years while terrible stuff was said about them in the press, leaked by aides or family but now when they finally speak they are “destroying the monarchy”. The unfairness of it all infuriates me.
That about says it. “I can say what I want, but, the peons need to shut up.”
With H&M there is also the “how dare they be sad or whine about their lives when they live in a 14 million dollar home”. The rest of the royals don’t get that when they leak their emotions.
So the Queen isn’t a rage-monster like William? Good to know.
I just can’t find it in my heart to care what Betty thinks about anything.
Same. Betty figured out how to protect her nasty son.
SAME. I find the sympathetic coverage toward Elizabeth a little rage inducing. Just because she’s old doesn’t mean she isn’t mean. We still prosecute nazi war criminals. I don’t think she’s as innocent as a lot of people seem to believe. sorry not sorry.
Totally agree. This woman isn’t nice. Why are so many people here bending over backwards to find some imagined excuse? Ohhhh right she’s a super rich white old royal.
She has the best pr approach so far post-interview (reported she did refuse to sign off on a harsh response), I would not be surprised she gives Archie a title. This is the approach that will help and who knows? Maybe someone in her surrounding or herself gets it?
I am on H&M side, and think H was used for so long to shield W, it is not even possibke to talk about it- and I believe in fairness on all end. The Queen can make her feelings known, like M&H could.
The problem is the UK reporters who seem to think it is somewhat regal to piss in media’s ears through courtiers and employees (so not appropriate- not even owning their words and leaving room to deny)- and anyone otherwise tesponding to stupid hateful coverage is committing an act of utter disrespect to the Q. This is so thwartled- for people outside UK like me/ it is impossible to understand the logic
I imagine the queen is very good at compartmentalizing.
Yes.
My mother is, and it’s horrible. It means she won’t do anything about any relationship problems, basically. Something is always someone else’s problem and if she ignores it long enough it’ll just disappear. Which made me disappear, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She’s fine being controlled by ragey men. She has her own reasons for being like that, based in trauma, but I can’t imagine the disaster if she had any real power or lots of kids.
Ah, the good old “I’m not angry, I’m disappointed”. My mum used to say that too when she really wanted to guilt trip me.
100%, mine did too! Total guilt trip. I don’t know how much the Queen is in charge anymore, but I am sure that she built up and nurtured this dysfunctional organization that is now coming back to haunt her.
I’m so confused…I thought that the queen was Liz of House Petty, the one who denied her veteran grandson from laying a wreath at the Cenotaph, the one who stripped the same veteran grandson of his military honors while Andrew keeps his, the one who stripped Harry of his security while Andrew still has his but now we’re feeling sorry for her and assuming that Charles or William actually made these decisions? Can someone please explain this shift to me?
Personally I still feel the same way about her, that she’s petty, cruel, cares more about an “institution” than any living, breathing member of her own family and will throw anyone under the bus who dares to step out of some obscure line of her own invention.
Can’t she be both? Someone who puts The Crown first and sticks to protocol but also has a soft spot for Harry? And couldn’t it be possible that Charles, William and her courtiers can use her complete devotion to The Crown and unwavering desire to keep the monarchy going as a way to manipulate her into taking things away like honorary military positions and royal patronages because of “protocol”.
Snuffles. I think you’re right. It’s a mixture of emotion, which blinds her to Andrew and binds her to Harry, and a sense of duty, which is why she will never quite abdicate in full, given the promise she gave the nation in taking on the crown after her father’s premature death. Conflicted woman making unwise choices and barbed mistakes.
Maybe…but what indication of a soft spot are we seeing for Harry? I can *clearly* see the soft spot for Andrew….boy has he gotten a pass. What “pass” has Harry gotten? Not being sarcastic, serious question.
No need to be confused. I, probably like many commenters here, don’t go on threads the thesis of which we disagree with. It gives the appearance of everyone having a unified opinion.
And honestly, we can read the tea leaves, but all these stories are coming filtered through so many lens: the royal with the opinion, sometimes the courtiers with an axe to grind or something to say, a concerted PR effort, sometimes unofficially leaked gossip, sometimes wholly made up, we have the Middletons leaking their POV to various outlets, we have friends (like the Turnip Toffs) leaking. Then it goes through the writer’s POV and then the editor has their say. Then finally the Celebitchy team selects the stories and quotes they want to use and when it comes down to it, we’ll never actually know. We have our suspicions, time (and well written books) will bring greater clarity but we’ll never know jack.
Not exactly. It’s like with The Crown – nobody heard exact words/dialogs or was present during exact events, but the picture as a whole, the general impression was right.
Why do I think so? Long before H&M interview we here defined the start of massive smear campaign (Australian tour+ pregnancy announcement), we understood the basis of it – jealousy and racism. We saw the symbiotic relationship between tabloids, Royal Reporters and Royal Family. It was clear that tabs have dirt on Royals and RF, except the oldest generation, are afraid to anger the tabloids. We saw how this all is working.
Unsurprisingly a lot of our assumptions came as truthful enough, in that interview. Of course we couldn’t know the concrete facts but we got the right general picture.
@Betsy I totally agree with you. We just don’t know the truth. I doubt they tell the Queen the truth. So I think the events that we were able to witness are the most telling: None of Harry’s family looking up during the wedding when H&M said their vows; Kate snubbing H&M at the Commonwealth Service and Harry’s I Want To Murder Them Both expression afterward; Kate recoiling from Will’s touch in the Mary Berry special; the Queen snubbing Kate & Will in the farewell procession at the nighttime Magnificent Seven reveal. These events we saw with our own eyes are the most reliable.
@Gina – yes, we can get some broad strokes right, but of the specific who and the specific what, we won’t know.
@Harper – I just don’t think The Queen was ever all that great as a monarch (maybe in the late 1800s she would have been aces), and she’s just lost touch. I don’t remember the Queen snubbing Kate and Will, but I want to. Because it squares with the story that I think I understand to be true.
She might not be angry Betty , just petty Betty
If the Queen wants to know who asked about Archie’s skin color, rather than launching an investigation, here’s a novel idea, how about just ask Harry who it was. Oh that’s right, because that’s all BS.
I’m sure she already has, but at least everyone in the know isn’t leaking – otherwise William would have to leak on himself.
This might be the most telling as to the identity of the one who asked. We get leaks about everything else…..why is this still under lock and key? If it were Charles I really feel we would’ve had some more concrete evidence of that revealed by now.
I notice one common theme in these stories from the RR (leaked by the Royals). The Queen feels this or Charles feels that or Will and Kate were feeling this. Not one story has referenced how Harry and Meghan were made to feel. Nor do any of them touch on the drastic actions they felt they had to take to get out of this family. They still talk about Harry as if they expect him to walk away from his wife and kids and millions of dollars worth of contracts to come back to this mess. They obviously don’t understand or care about his feelings if they think he would do this. They make it clear Meghan isn’t even considered human enough to be named and her feelings certainly don’t matter. They keep telling us who they are….
I find it odd that the narrative seems to be reverting back to the palace being “protective” of vulnerable Harry, and they “tried to support him when Meghan came along. They all worried less about him when Meghan was on the scene as he seemed so happy.”
What??? Do they think everyone collectively blacked out the last two weeks when they’ve been (unsuccessfully) trying to paint Harry as a resentful fame monster trying to bring down the monarchy?
Or earlier trying to convince us that Harry is miserable in California with his family and just wants to come back and sleep on his brother’s couch for a bit.
Now they have the nerve to imply that they are worried about Harry, perhaps forgetting that they seem to be the ones that drove him away and put his family in danger.
I took “they” meaning The Queen. Even by Meghan’s admission that when she was around the Queen she was kind to her. I can believe the Queen was happy if Harry was happy. But that didn’t hold true at Kensington Palace.
I mean the Queen taking Meghan on that train trip and letting Harry and Meghan separate their offices from KP probably means that SHE tried but had no idea the depth of backstabbing that was coming out of Kensington Palace.
I’m not sure even Harry and Meghan understood the depth until fairly late in the game. These people don’t just lie and leak to the press. I believe they lie and leak to each other. This has always been the way since Kings and Queens existed. Why would we assume it’s any different today? Things always seem to go to shit when a Monarch is nearing the end of their reign. Decisions are made for them behind their back while they are patted and told everything is fine.
William obviously knows he’s not going to skip over Charles, but he also knows Charles can delay handing over the duchy of Cornwall. Since he doesn’t know how to earn anything and only knows how to be entitled to it, he will likely wage a PR war against Charles, thinking public opinion will force Charles to hand it over and don’t forget Carole in this mix. I have no doubt she believes there is an opportunity here for her to gain a more powerful position as William gets one step closer to the throne. Who knows what she’s whispering into his ear as she strokes his ego.
So true @bloemheks. I watched a documentary on Henry VIII the other day. In the manoeuvring that accompanied his last days there was also the further confusion caused by the fact that no-one, doctors included, dared tell him the bad news that he was dying. They were indeed patting his hand and telling him he would recover imminently as they plotted over his dying body!
If I’m not mistaken, William as heir will automatically inherit the duchy of Cornwall once Charles becomes king. It’s the POW title that can be withheld for as long as Charles wants. And that’s something Charles can hold over William to keep him in line. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
@Feeshalori I wasn’t sure on that one. I knew there was something he could withhold for a while. Is it the Prince’s trust? I seem to recall comments at various times that there is a great deal of wealth he will gain control over, but not until Charles decides.
@Bloemheks Charles would dearly love if William took over the Prince’s Trust that is his life’s work. But William didn’t want it and neither did Harry, if I’m correct. Again, if I’m not mistaken, David Linley, the Earl of Snowden, will be assuming that role. The Duchy of Cornwall will give William a vast income that Charles can’t prevent and any control over the purse strings that Charles currently has will then be lost. It’s the POW title that Charles doesn’t have to grant immediately.
It was never Harry’s job to take it over, so he shouldn’t be shamed for not taking it on. It has ALWAYS been William’s job to take it over, as it is The Prince (of Wales) Trust, and William (not Harry) is the future POW.
Nota, if that was only William’s job to take over the Prince’s Trust then l stand corrected. I didn’t realize it was affiliated only with the POW position. But nowhere in my comment was l shaming Harry.
It uses the Prince of Wales crest as the logo.
Meghan haters, Kate stans, whomever have been going after Harry for years over this, in a vain attempt to conceal William’s laziness.
It has never been Harry’s role to take over TPT nor to do Duchy work, but they still try to tack it on as a failure of Harry’s that he doesn’t do it. It is yet another case where people are trying to blame Harry or shame Harry to do William’s job.
As an American, l am unfamiliar with the POW logo for the Prince’s Trust and that it is an organization solely affiliated with the POW. And thanks for the clarification. If others hate on Harry for this, I’m not one of them.
I can believe that the queen is sad about the situation but she’s not in charge. Charles is running the show and is making the decisions. That’s why she can issue a dictate that there be no briefing in the press and the courtiers can defy her. It’s why Harry was banned from participating in last year’s remembrance day ceremony.
Yes. I think the silence regarding Charles in their interview was the loudest.
Harry made a point of saying he wants to repair the relationship with his father. The one with his brother, he referred to needing space. Look at Meghan’s face when Harry is talking about William. That expression shows me William is the root cause of the majority of problems. That includes Charles not being able to handle William and his behavior.
Yea there was jealousy after the Aus tour but I really doubt it was C. C knows the world wants to look at young royals so he would be jealous but not as much as when he was younger. HM’s popularity and capabilities threatened WK’s and that’s probably how all of these started. C should have done something but we all know he’s a weak leader and weak father. So everything spiralled downwards from then on and tearing Meghan apart helped to divert those Rose rumours. 2 in 1 solution.
The tiara gate and Kate crying story both had William, Jason Knauf and Kate being directly involved in some way and they were the first attacks coming from inside the palace. Knauf was also highly involved with the letter to Tom. Everything circles back to William.
Charles is to blame for not controlling William better, and here the Queen has to take the blame too. The tiara gate story just made her look incompetent because for Angela Kelly to not know which tiaras could be used would be a massive reversal of everything that was said about the process for decades and contradict the book she wrote.
The Queen should have spoken to William about these false stories. But she’s been an ostrich from day one. And now Billy “I have a black friend” is making the hugest PR mistakes and further embarrassing the Firm.
Notasugarhere, I agree. When I think of the interview, I came away with the notion that Harry is angry and hurt by his father, and he knows that in order to heal that relationship it will take a LOT of work. I believed him when he said he was working on that–therapy? But what was clear to me when he talked about his brother, is that he was through. He has come to terms with who is brother is and that he had cut him loose in the sense that he was okay with not having a relationship with W. There was no hesitation or angst that I saw when he described their relationship as “space”.
There’s often “space” between the golden child and the scapegoat. William is Charles’ golden child and Harry’s always been the scapegoat. Charles is manipulative and cold-hearted, and he knows how to play people against each other.
@Saucy&Sassy, same. A lot of people seemed to interpret Harry’s more emotional reaction when talking about his father to mean he was the one behind the horrible racial comments, etc. But I saw a son who was extremely hurt and let down by his father — but is willing to do the work to repair and heal the relationship down the road. Hence why there’s emotion there. Whereas when he spoke about Will….there was nothing. Just closed off, cut and dried, “we need space”. Which to me says he’s come to terms with the fact that he isn’t going to have much of a relationship with his brother and SIL going forward. He’s done.
I can believe and understand that HM isn’t completely in charge. It’s natural that an almost 95 year old isn’t completely “there” at that age. However I don’t think she’s completely powerless either.
Omg enough of this BRF “sadness ” what’s next a black flag hanging from palace ?!
One with a picture of Kate the Great on it 😀
Don’t forget it’s a sad flag so Kate must show her white woman tears.
I think the queen feels a lot of personal affection for harry, but the people around her do not. Just like harry said in the interview, he was invited to stay with her, then last minute her plans changed. The people around her will do whatever they can to block her actually doing anything to help harry and Meghan, because the rest of them are all on the same side. Racism is illogical and racists will act irrationally. That is why their tactics are so f*cking bad, they haven’t once actually changed how they smear Meghan, regardless of how many people on socials call they out for their very obvious strategy.
“…but has privately pledged to stand by her grandson.”
B!tch, that’s the problem! That’s been the problem for years now. Your grandson, AND his wife & family, need your *public* support as well as private.
If she’d been more vocal in her support of them starting in 2017 and certainly after the wedding, they all probably wouldn’t even be in this mess now. It was her silence for so long in the face of unimaginable bullying the couple faced that caused so much of this sh!tshow. She could have shut a lot of it down, but didn’t.
If I were Harry I’d tell her where she could shove her “private” support.
Andrew took advantage of/had sex with/raped teen victims of sexual trafficking and no one has made him sit for an interview with law enforcement,
That’s the BRF in a nutshell.
This.
All I can say is that whoever is handling the Queen’s PR this weekend has been a thousand times better than Billy and Jason Knauf. When the 94 year old comes off as more thoughtful and more in touch than the “young modern” millennial, you know that you have done something massively wrong.
Yawn. Queen sad but can’t do anything sensible.
Anyway, did anyone else notice Prince William trending this weekend? I’m in the US so it may be location based but there were all these comparisons between him and celebrities his age or older…ouch. And the “black friend OBE” thing in the telegraph. Plus the “eye opening and fair” profile in the times. The damage control is strong with this one. Continues to paint the picture that William was and remains the absolute worst.
I did see the article about his friend saying Wm is not a racist. The consensus seems to be that William is the one who asked about Archie’s possible skin tone. The man doth protest too much.
Who is this alleged “black friend”? Whoever it is needs to be slapped upside the head with a wet noodle. Stop caping for these people who ultimately don’t give an F about you. If Will’s got such a good black friend, why wouldn’t he stand up in support of BLM? Oh that’s right…everyone in a position of power needs a token.
He’s the CEO of Centrepoint UK, a homeless charity. Diana was their patron and now William is. Will is being dragged on Twitter as protesting too much so people are starting to think he is the one who made remarks to Harry because of it.
@equality Ah, so not REALLY a friend….just someone willing to pay lip service to Willy the King. Weaksauce.
Honestly I get too tired to take on certain battles and I’m six (?ish) decades younger than the queen.
I can’t believe she could take on the entire system, her own son and even her husband at this age.
She gets her info from someone working for Charles more than her. Charles is the poison problem and he has been since Diana. Philip was a horrible father and it shows.
Hahah!!! They turning now on themselves! I was waiting when it will start. So there is and article in daily fail already how Queen is frustrated with Charles! Lol i see Baldy is not wasting his time. Lets see what Charles’s next move
So Baldy is attacking the Sussexes and Charles at the same time. Going for a 2for1 special. Wonder what Charles’ move will be. Charley should let it leaked that Baldy was the one asking about Archie’s skin color.
Hmm it really feels like Will has possibly cultivated more press connections than his father? Or Charles just leaks less? I know they both do but William just seems to have people on speed dial for embiggening stories.
I guess it might be either William is more leaking as has more to lose so has to feed the beast or it is a game of who’s first
Charles has always been a figure of ridicule and disgust for most of the British press and a lot of the politicians and other movers and shakers because…well, he’s ‘too liberal’. Basically, he actually engaged with the 70s counterculture in a way that the rest of the aristos of his generation rarely did (he was actually there for the philosophical discussion, not the drugs), and he agreed that significant elements from that movement needed to be embraced for the good of society as a whole. Not everything, because he WAS raised to believe he was chosen by God to be the most specialist snowflake of all, and surrounded by people catering to his every whim and never telling him no…but *some* things needed to change.
Excusable for MOST aristocrats as merely excentricity, but as the man marked out for the top job it’s COMPLETELY unacceptable. They want someone like QEII, representative of the strict social hierarchy, extremist gender-conformism, and just general nostalgic, escapist, regressive uber-consumerism that the late 1950s is best known for. It was basically “Yes the last…40ish years or so have been complete shit, but that’s over now and we have MONEY so let’s spend it all like it’s 1900 again!” congealed into living form, and was kind of awesome if you were a British aristocrat.
Thus, William, who is essentially a 1950s english aristocrat whose mind was time-displaced into an increasingly bulldog-faced Millenial Prince, is favored over Charles, the upper-class pseudo-hippy.
Ugh! She should be sad that her heir Chuckles and his incompetent son Willnot are the future of the monarchy. Why do you think they all went crazy over there when Harry left even though he is the 6th in line? Look at the jealous, backstabbing idiots they are left with. There is a reason Diana called her youngest son “Good King Henry.” Can anyone in England honestly say with a straight face that (I want to be your tampon) Chuckles and incompetent (I am 40 and have nothing to show for it) Willie will be good kings?
If the Queen has enough power to wield to protect pedo Andrew (his titles, security, and tax payer funded lifestyle remains intact), it would have cost her nothing to say to the press, “Leave Harry and Meghan alone because we love and support them.” She didn’t and that speaks volumes.
I think it’s very telling that both Meghan and Harry have spoken about the Queen favourably since the interview. He spoke about her during his James Cordon interview and when his grandfather was in the hospital they both sent messages to the Queen. I think this shows that at least Harry believes she has had little if nothing to do with the smear campaign and that he holds no feelings of I’ll will against her. He’s been on the inside, so he should know best who wields the power, namely Charles and William.
I agree, Lory. I think people are seeing it too much as William (and Kate). Yes, I suspect the vile slurs and nastiness to have originated in William’s court, but William is not the next in line. Charles seems to get sidelined and neutralised, as if it will by William next. This family is as long lived as parrots, though, and Charles could be on the throne for a good decade or two; I imagine he is pretty much the power behind his ailing mother’s throne at this point. I don’t think he is or has been sitting to one side, letting William crack on like this, without either being half and half on it or sanctioning William’s views completely. It was Charles who wanted to do the point by point rebuttal. I see William as the mouthpiece and Charles as the opinion maker.
When Charles gets the throne he will soon be handled and managed by William and his staff anyway. This longeve future and future-future monarchs are doomed in this way. They will be crowned at a senile age. FFQC will probably be crowned as will Camilla, in an elderly age.
If ma middleton is lucky she will see her daughter crowned, she will stay healthy just to see that alone , ha!
This is what I sent to a friend of mine in England (30s) ‘I also think for POC we related and were happy to see representation in the royal family. But, everything she said we could relate to. Even the dismissive words after are too relatable. So I think the royal family can keep gracing your shores. We have enough “of course I’m not racist people here.” Lol. It was disappointing as a potential for change and now I just think “if you stay in England, we’re cool.”’ She had good insights too, including the Kate Clapham Common visit, such as the suspect disappearing mask. It seems to be a real age difference and POC difference. The right knows older people are loyal to the TQ and will lean into that. My opinion is Brexit and the white supremacy bent will shrink England and any influence. In that bubble the monarchy won’t bother, attract, or carry any clout for the rest of the world. Meghan and Harry got out and I’m glad they’re here. The rest can stay on the island and diminish away along with the tabloids. That’s my hope anyway.
It seems to me, that the courtiers, most of whom inherit their position, and two jealous petty heirs run the monarchy. They will run it into the ground.
Current headline on The Fail:
“The Queen is ‘constantly frustrated’ with Prince Charles who will ‘never live up to her sense of duty’ and is more affectionate to Prince Andrew, royal author claims in new documentary”
Shots fired, y’all. Liz might just be ready to knock some heads.
That comment, “Prince Charles who will ‘never live up to her sense of duty’” makes no sense. Charles has been the most productive Prince of Wales ever and has created a great legacy through his work efforts. The man is a workaholic compared to Andrew and especially William….neither one of which seem to have much “sense of duty.” Seems both Andrew and William are taking shots here and attempting to do some damage to Charles.
The Queen has a new right-hand man who was formerly with the MI5. I wonder if the above headline/story is the first volley on his end toward righting the ship. Also, it seems as if there has been very little emphasis on Meghan this week post-Gayle King reminding everyone that Harry & Meghan have receipts. I think Harry sent them a screenshot of what he wanted to release and Chuck and Willie backed off.
The Queen has always loved Andrew, possibly the most. Philip has a long-known dislike of Charles and fondness for Anne: he once remarked that Anne was the “son” he never had. Both the Queen and Philip have been reported as thinking Charles is a loose cannon, particularly when it comes to obvious and unnecesssary spectacles of spending, and that plans for the monarchy on her death have included talks on how he is seen to manage the finances for himself and the younger RF members. He is also seen as too involved with politics, with some of his letters to prime ministers being published here. The Queen is reported to have a great admiration for Sophie, who is apparently one of the hardest working in terms of her patronages – she reads ahead, works on knowing the people, forms good relationships, and stays in touch. (I always thought it’d be Sophie who had the most in common with Meghan and that they would get on; but, no, it turned out to be just another wasted opportunity.) I also remember Philip detesting Fergie, to the point he would not be in the same room as her and she was uninvited to most functions. One of the minor things that surprised me in the Oprah interview was that Fergie was there when Meghan met the Queen. I think that proves how much the Queen supports Andrew – she is willing to have the once-despised Fergie in her presence. It also shows how Fergie has wheedled her way back in, probably making a great show of supporting the Queen’s favourite son in the face of the accusations.
Fergie has never been on the outs with the Queen, no matter how much Philip dislikes her. She’s been at Sandringham for Christmas almost every year since the separation and divorce. She was housed at Wood Farm, which is where Philip lives now.
Edward is Philip’s fav, not Anne. As for Sophie? She’s great at kissing royal a$$. She doesn’t real military history books because she likes them, she reads them because it gives her something in common with the Queen. Ditto the horseracing AND having their daughter Louise do carriage driving to kiss up to Philip.
Sophie saw Meghan as competition, as Sophie has been the one working steadily in the Commonwealth for years. And working, somewhat, on women’s issues. Sophie’s nose was put out of joint when Kate got Wimbledon, and when Harry and Meghan got the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Lol I mentioned it in comment above and tried to paste a link. It is hilarious read. But I am sooo curious what Charles comes up as a contr attack? Leaking of an affair? Something else. Watch this space!
It could also be William playing games? He has somewhat of a reputation for it.
Lol. Let the circular firing squad begin. This should be good!
The Queen invited M on the train and appeared smiling with her, M said she was great. Harry and the Queen always appeared in good spirits together. Charles walked M down the aisle with a proud smile. Even K appeared with M. For K, it was her chance at appearing better than she is and she acting as her shallow meritless self took it, plus she does as W says or else, she is facing his infamous anger- no excuse for her- just saying. I recall zero pics of genuine interactions between W and M, plus from thereon- W appeared lemon bitter face (was going for grand but did not work) in public in their presence and made that weird comment about his other nephew. W is the only one who never did or said something even remotely nice. He also was reported from the get go as warning H about ‘M.
For all the show they make about “being a family”, and how sad this and that is about Harry, they really show no real interaction, no real interest or care about each other. Not with words, not with actions.
All for show. Worse than a reality show.
I recall reporters asking Anne about George or Louise, and she was dumbfounded to be asked about that baby, like she has or was about to have her own grandkids, why would she care about that one? she went on to say:”Nothing to Do With Me”, William is worse than her, as Harry’s child is his direct relative.
Funny how the reporters pretzel themselves to create these stories, when the reality must be so, so much colder, maybe cordial in public or in meetings, but cold.
RR, you don’t deceive us.
Anne can be a snob, but I don’t expect her to pay attention to any children her adult nieces or nephews may have if she has her own grandkids. And by all accounts Anne has been an involved grandmother to all her grandchildren, far more than Charles has been.
I totally understand, I am from a warm culture, a “big” family culture where -usually- people care about distant relatives, but I also understand or know how other cultures see extended family, many of them just don’t care much or anything about it. Especially someone with the personality of Anne, and how she was brought up.
It still baffles me a little because this is THE family, you know, this is the main British family which representa all this, which all those storylines are written up about. Like if they had all these virtues, caring, open, sensible, non-prejudiced, honest, you name it. Great- granny is hurt, grandpa is hurt, uncle is sad, little cousins won’t get to know and play with new cousin because of this one member’s leaving, while in truth, these people just don’t give a fig.
I used to follow The Spanish royals a bit, years ago, but they are also a messy, messy family. It is like all those aging Hollywood hunks who have turned out to be horrible unworthy people. Nice facades, ugly interior.
I cant help but seeing Carole in his response about the nephew..
I’m pretty sure “the Queen has left the building” in all but the most ceremonial of ways. She’s there because she has the gravitas of many years on the throne. Charles has taken over; he and Wiliam are responsible for the recent PR missteps.
I’m so tired of hearing how the royals feel. Not once did they give a thought to how Meghan felt when they were being as awful as they were to her and Harry, and they still don’t care. The only thing the royals feel is put out that they can’t completely control the narrative. They can parade as many black “ friends” or diversity tsars as they want, but the fact is they made this mess and don’t care what they do until they actually do the right thing, which they never will. Never seen such a self pitying, completely undeserving group as this.
They continue to dehumanize Meghan. Meg’s humanity doesn’t matter at all to these people. But sure keep telling everyone you’re not racist. Actions speak far louder than words.
But why ISN’T the queen angry about Harry’s bombshell? I don’t mean angry AT Harry, but angry about what Harry and Meghan endured? If I learned that my family members were treated the way the Sussexes were, I would be darned angry about it. Of course I would be sad, but a normal person would also be angry, wouldn’t they? It seems that by not being “angry” the Queen doesn’t really grasp how much Meghan was victimized, or doesn’t care. Everything is phrased in how “sad” the family is about the strained relations, rather than acknowledging racism and how horrible THAT is. This is just tone deaf, and will do nothing to address the real problem.
Because it’s all about their precious feelings, doncha know? Racism and mental health attacks directed towards one of their family just pale in comparison!🙄
I finally started watching The Crown the other night. I know it’s a fictionalization and it can’t be taken as absolute truth. One thing that rings very true to me, however, is the queen continually taking bad advice and not really making most of her own decisions. That’s how royal families have been raised for a very long time — purposefully uneducated and unable to make their own decisions, so they can be pushed around like dolls.
It was probably a good idea centuries ago when it was started; it makes everything much less violent. But nowadays, with a monarchy that doesn’t have as much power to be violent, it means that grey men and vipers run the show. Meanwhile, people who aren’t even allowed to run their own private lives (and don’t really know how to anyway) get continually put on parade. It’s no wonder they take refuge in affairs when they can. They are purposefully kept unable to really do much else.
Edward was a shock (and a Nazi, but large swathes of the English aristocracy were too so they didn’t care about that), Margaret was a shock (she cared about miners!), Diana was a shock, now Harry is a shock. The final shock? Probably not. Something like this happens every generation and The Firm never learns.
Has anyone noticed Harry has not been removed as Counsellor of State? The queen I think is still hoping Harry comes back, with or without Meghan I am not sure. When the queen passes the house of Windsor will become Game of Thrones and the Sussexes were smart to get out of the UK. However Charles and William see the Sussexes as a rival US court with more powerful media allies and big names in their corner. Oprah can buy and sell the Royal Rota and Piers Morgan is small potatoes by comparison. He tried to pick a Twitter fight with Gayle King and she paid him dust. Pus is an EMPLOYEE of a network; Oprah has a production company and OWNs her network.
Bully-am ‘s KP sanctioned hit pieces are a joke. His “black friend” holds a position in Centerpoint, a charity William to which is connected. The queen mad at Charles is most likely inside family business that he leaked.
Hmmm…I think someone amongst the echelons of the RF has now realized they can be “cancelled” too. Maybe not in Britain, but in the rest of world? Yeah, their popularity could be trashed easily. They are such a well documented family…. I can see Soledad O’Brien showing that grainy pic of the young QEII and her mom making the Nazi salute. She would show that right before a commercial break, just to give you some time to digest it. Then we could have Phillip’s and Margaret’s greatest hits, and whoever else our media can dig up. Then they cut to gorgeous Di, life tragically cut short by the cruelty of the crown…. (deep breath).
Yeah…I think they get it.
But on a side note, QEII has never been in charge. Neither was her father. It’s sad some Brits actually think this family has any power. They’re just a vestige that is only symbolic and occasionally they dress up in fancy clothes with diamonds that make people ooh and ahh. Strip them of mystique and they could easily be Kardashians.
After reading a lot of comments on this topic-I have come to the conclusion-ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS-The Queen could tell the tabs to pull back on Harry and Meghan and they might give them some space for a while-If they are planning to hire a diversity coordinator-then the entire staff of all the royal households need to have workshops to explain the actions of discrimation-racist trophes-and taking it upon themselves to leak to the media false stories to smear someone-If people keep seeing the smearing of the Sussexes in the British tabs-thinking brained people will realize what Harry has said about the royal family being scared of the media is true-If you cannot stand up for a family member being smeared in the media when you yourself is in that family know it is not true-then words don’t mean shit-I WANT TO SEE ACTION.
I lived in London 20+ years ago. My bf at the time was a relative of a foreign diplomat there. Through that connection, we got proper seated tickets to Trooping. Pastel skirt suit, hat, the whole shebang. I believe that tourists get to stand and watch along the Mall.
The hierarchy is alive and well and (probably) still living in London.