The timing of Netflix’s Harry & Meghan is pretty great. December 8th is the three-month anniversary of QEII’s passing, and December 15th is the Princess of Wales’s sad Christmas carol concert. Kate’s gonna have to pull out her Wiglet of Distraction next week and wear all of Diana’s jewelry all at once. Maybe Kate will go on stage and mumble-sing some carols solo to pull attention. Anyway, the gossip going around for a few days is that Buckingham Palace has created a “war room” to deal with the fallout from the Sussexes’ Netflix series. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair says no, of course not. Her palace sources claim that while William will complain, explain, whine, scream, cry and peg about the docu-series, King Charles will take a “heads down, carry on” approach.
Palace aides are said to be bracing themselves for further damaging headlines and revelations, but despite reports senior courtiers have been locked in crisis talks, well-placed sources tell Vanity Fair that the strategy is to ride out the storm without drawing too much attention to the TV series.
“It’s likely going to be tricky but the intention is to keep heads down and keep going,” a royal source says. “It’s a tried and tested strategy and has served them well in the past. William is letting his work speak for itself as we saw in Boston and the King has a busy program of events. The message from the palace will be duty.”
The teaser, however, suggests the program, which comes just weeks after the latest season of The Crown, could be more than a distraction and has the potential to damage the royal family and its reputation internationally.
While King Charles’s communications team are understood to be reluctant to be drawn into publicly commenting, Kensington Palace, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ household, could take a different approach. Prince William has made it clear that he will not tolerate accusations of racism and has previously defended the royal family after Harry and Meghan claimed that a family member voiced concern over the color of their unborn son’s skin. When asked if the royals were racist, William responded, “We are very much not a racist family.”
According to one insider, the prince could have his comms team make a comment if the documentary makes untrue and or damaging allegations. “While Charles believes in the age-old mantra ‘never complain never explain’ William could be more inclined to speak out particularly if he feels he has to defend himself or the family over something serious like racism,” the source says.
In addition to the British press, the Sussexes also take aim at courtiers and the palace as an institution — whether they single out family members remains to be seen. The series of images in the latest trailer show Meghan in tears and Harry with his head in his hands as the couple’s lawyer Jenny Afia says, “There was a war against Meghan to support other people’s agendas.”
[From Vanity Fair]
I remember just after the Oprah interview aired last year, Queen Elizabeth’s staff had to talk Charles down from issuing a multi-page screed against the Sussexes. It will be interesting to see what his instincts are now that he’s king – we’ve been told repeatedly that Charles wants some kind of reconciliation with the Sussexes, but I have my doubts that Charles is willing to do literally anything to provide accountability for how the Sussexes were treated or even apologize to them. Now, William? William doesn’t have the good sense god gave a goose, so he will be huffing, puffing, whinging and lying all month. Good times. Also: I absolutely believe that BP and KP have war rooms going. I would imagine that Middleton Manor has a war room going too, because ultimately, William doesn’t give a f–k if Harry & Meghan tell all about Kate.
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Britain’s King Charles meets staff and suppliers at Morrisons Supermarkets headquarters during a two-day tour of Yokshire in Bradford, Britain November 8, 2022.,Image: 736041196, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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Britain’s King Charles attends the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain November 12, 2022.,Image: 737052305, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: CHRIS RADBURN / Avalon
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13/11/2022. London, United Kingdom. King Charles III and Prince William at the Remembrance Sunday service at The Cenotaph in London.,Image: 737222082, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images.
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Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales (Centre L) and Britain’s King Charles III (Centre R) arrive to attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London, on November 13, 2022. – Remembrance Sunday is an annual commemoration held on the closest Sunday to Armistice Day, November 11, the anniversary of the end of the First World War and services across Commonwealth countries remember servicemen and women who have fallen in the line of duty since WWI.,Image: 737226857, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: ISABEL INFANTES / Avalon
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LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 22: (L-R) King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort during the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace on November 22, 2022 in London, England. This is the first state visit hosted by the UK with King Charles III as monarch, and the first state visit here by a South African leader since 2010.,Image: 739545375, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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East Boston, MA – Prince William and Kate Middleton arrive in East Boston during their first United States visit since 2014.
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Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit To Boston – Day 1
The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to attend the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony.
Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess Of Wales
Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
When: 30 Nov 2022
Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
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The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Roca, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a non-profit organisation focusing on high-risk young people between the ages of 16-24 years old at the centre of urban violence. Picture date: Thursday December 1, 2022.
Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales
Where: Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States
When: 01 Dec 2022
Credit: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Image/Cover Images
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Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Fenway
Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William
Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
When: 02 Dec 2022
Credit: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Image/Cover Images
**North America Rights Only**
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Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Fenway
Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Prince William
Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
When: 02 Dec 2022
Credit: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Images/INSTAR/Cover Images
**North America Rights Only**
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Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony at the MGM Music Hall, Fenway
Featuring: Catherine, Princess Of Wales
Where: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
When: 03 Dec 2022
Credit: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Images/INSTAR/Cover Images
**North America Rights Only**
That picture of Kate in her green dress is giving big Madame Tussaud wax figure energy. Also, I love the idea of war rooms in all the palace over the docu-series, I hope they are quaking in their (stolen) gold-encrusted boots.
I was thinking it’s ‘alien wearing a human suit trying to smile for the first time’.
She legit looks like the Grinch before his heart grew 3 sizes.
I thought maybe it had been deliberately photoshopped to look bad.
It’s giving Imelda Marcos.
I’ve been trying to describe that “green” dress to some family. Best I can come up with is : take the colour of Bile and turn it neon.
My MIL still doesn’t see ….can I get a better description from someone here?
Describe it as a highlighter in fluorescent/neon green. Better yet, buy a marker and show her. I have one just that color.
It’s the color of Nickelodeon slime.
Kermit, in spring.
Wax figure is all I can see!
Someone on twitter said it’s giving habsburg and I can’t unsee it.
She looks like an overly tanned sweaty mess. I didn’t get the impression from any of the photos I saw from the entire trip that she genuinely enjoyed a single moment. Maybe when she strapped on Diana’s jewelry she felt morbid glee but that’s it.
Damn, she’s gaunt.
I saw a CBS short clip that gave a very brief overview of this award ceremony. They showed a picture of Fails and Wails and said that the POfWilliam wore a gown that matched the carpet. It was hillarious.
They will be crying all month? I’d say longer than that. They are, after all, still crying over the Oprah interview.
Oh look more briefings against harry and meghan that the royal reporters are claiming definitely didn’t happen 🙂
It’s like they want us to buy into their perceptions of reality that shift and switch hourly. Or are they saying so many contradictory things so no one will know what the truth is anymore and give up caring?
William will care if Kate comes out looking bad because as cold as he is to her, she is still a reflection of him right?
Agreed, however if the claims are very damaging – then he may increasingly distance himself and sooner or later the Rota will throw her under the bus by which point their marriage will be over.
I agree. William will protect Kate but only if it benefits him. If the marriage is really over, then she might be thrown under the bus and the narrative will be that Kate and her family were the ones that caused a split between the 2 brothers. William can then present himself as the victim.
@cerys, don’t forget about Harry. He may not care how the chips fall for Kate but no way he lets William get away with portraying himself as the victim. If William puts on too much of a performance Harry might call him out. Harry is fed up with his brother
It depends. William protects Kate (or rather, KP does) so that he looks good, but he also expects Kate to help him look good. That is, after all, her main job – to bolster his image.
So if something comes out that specifically makes Kate look bad, and there is evidence for it, William may be too mad at her to push back. It will be up to the Middletons.
He may see it as the excuse he needs to divorce her. He can play it like, yes he was awful to Meghan, but only because Kate was feeding him misleading info. And look how she caused the split between him and his only brother, so he must divorce her to repair the monarchy and save the family.
I could totally see him playing it that way.
Please, God, let William hold a press conference in response. Please. Thank you.
Kate look like the Grinch mother in the photo!
+1 You win the internet! Thank you for making my day!
Kate may try to channel Liberace to try to distract at that concert hitting piano chords. A gown encrusted in Austrian crystal. Or maybe do an interpretive dance. The timing of Netflix show could not be better.
Am not sure if Chuck has a war room but the Keens def have – Chuck has already made moves that he’s going to throw them to the wolves to protect himself and Cams.
I also think certain individuals of the households will also be getting lawyered up – Knauf in particular should be very very worried. As should Ma Mids – am pretty sure at the time of Sussexit there was a story about the Middletons being concerned about the court cases H&M had against the press, esp Harry’s. We know the husband of Christian Jones was being paid to leak stories to Dan Wootton.
^^ This 100%
Two birds one stone. The chess playing by H&M is sensational. When push comes to shove Harry can count on his father to throw Peg and his wife under the bus to save himself and Cam.
That has the dual effect of tarnishing William greatly and the noises of skipping the order of succession and Chuck not being King dampen down.
Meghan is to William what Diana was to Charles. Maybe by the time they get to George this family will have learned to treat women and minorities with dignity, if even only to preserve themselves ….
To me it all started for Pippa ‘s wedding. At the time I found it odd and ridiculous that Harry couldn’t bring Meghan to the wedding. It was really weird and I thought they used Meghan to gain publicity for the wedding. But then with all the leaking, the crying gate and tiara gate it was obvious the Middletons were threatened by the star factor of Meghan .
I will say the imagery is hilarious. Just imagining a room with a big tv with Netflix on and ready, direct lines open to the various reporters and with staff running around everywhere.
I want to know who is in each war room. Does Kate leave for Middleton manors or does she stay at KP?
Good for Chuckles – although – what are they really going to do about it.
King Chuckles is in a quagmire – bc in order to take any action, disclosures will have to be made, which he knows the rags will eat up. His reign will make Season 3 of Succession look like a pleasant family gathering, so he will have to either continue attacking via tabloids (more blood on the floor), or throw Bill and Kate under the bus and declare a truce.
Blood on the floor, or boar on the floor? LOL. Succession is such an amazing show, it has given me so much insight into wealthy family dynamics which seem to read directly across to the Firm…and wildly entertaining as well!
My school teacher always said- the one who’s guilty shouts the most. Pegs- we know you are the royal racist 🙂
I think Kate will be the expendable one as married in. If it comes to it.Charles showed it was possible to get divorced and move on.
What happened to “Never complain. Never explain.” ????? Did Chucky learn nothing from dear old mummy?
“War Room?” In my world we call that a home theater. They’ll all be watching and crying. After the wins against BM, Chuckles the Turd’s advisors may hold him back as best they can, they know Meghan and Harry have receipts. But he’ll let William and his wife crash and burn.
This is going to be so fun.
So very sanguine. The heights of sanguitude. C III has nearly reached sanguifinity.
KC is old. Fun fact: archaic (meaning old) meanings of sanguine include “ruddy complexion” (which KC has) and “bloodthirsty” (which KC can be). Lol
If yesterday is any indication (presumably it is), the strategy apparently is to lie and then lie some more. This has worked in the past since the mainstream media in both the UK and the US never questioned what the palaces put out for public consumption. So if the media continues to be good stenographers for the royals, lying could help them. Hopefully, they will encounter more scepticism this time around, especially if anti-royalists push back hard, and H&M and allies provide proof that they’re lying.
Kate looks so much like her brother James (but, like, more evil) in that photo.
The crazy thing is according to Peter Hunt, William doesn’t like the implication that he or his staff briefed against Harry and Meghan when we all know that they did. If Charles and William do respond to the Harry and Meghan’s documentary it will be a joint statement along the lines of the one they issued when the BBC programme the Princes and the Press.
They have ZERO jurisdiction over Netflix and H&M.
If they try to claim that H&M are paranoid like they did with Diana it will be a terrible look for them. In a way going after the BBC has not helped them one bit bc people are now familiar with their modus operandi.
When everyone is described as paranoid or having mental health challenges, then there is clearly a problem.
“We are not a racist family.” I’m sorry, I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. You are the OG colonizers! Your family built the structures modern racism is built on. Until I hear even the slightest acknowledgment of that fact, I’m going to keep assuming you’re a bunch of horrifying racists desperately clinging to a time when you didn’t have to answer for anything because you literally owned half the world.
The words when the Oprah interview “aired last year” gave me pause. It seems like it was several years. I wonder how long it feels for poor H&M. It just illustrated in my brains how bad and how heavy and relentless the emotionally violent press has been against H&M. Unbelievable.
BP and KP need to worry about the loose cannons that are the Markles. If they are implicated as willing co conspirators with the tabloids (and there are receipts) Jr and Scammy will run to the mikes, American mikes, and start spilling. William threw his mother and godmother under the bus; he will have no problem hanging Bad Dad and the half sibs out to dry.
it does appear as if #Good King Harry has his own war room in full effect though; if he has anything to do with the timing of the drop of the two volumes of the docuseries. It is aligned as you report to bring as much pain to the BRF, as its contents.
Hear me out guys butttt I think there might be a new agreement made with the press and the palace that might provide partial reprieve for Harry and Meghan. Idk
I think this will expose the rota and media more than the royals themselves. I think some of the media in response will expose the royals but NOT Harry and Meghan directly.
I think those not following royal news daily will be sympathetic to Harry and Meghan esp if they help connect the dots with what happened to Diana.
I think the palace acts this time only because they can’t have Harry and Meghan with their HUGE platform (I would argue it’s bigger the the royals right now) exposing them. It’s really damaging especially when the courtiers like Lady Hussey are only confirming what Harry and Meghan have been through.
I guess we’ll see but It’s not sustainable for them to keep attacking Meghan and Harry while claiming to be mental health advocates and anti racists. It will be a small change but I think something is gonna happen.
They all have war rooms and Katty and the Midds should be very worried bc she’s definitely going to be thrown under the double decker bus. William is looking for any excuse to justify dumping her and the docuseries and/or Harry’s book could provide him with some excuses.
Neither C-Rex nor his heir will be able to help themselves and with their defensive statements, will spill more damaging info. Their PR instincts suck so they will be whining and implicating themselves for at least the next decade. C-Rex will once again put his pettiness and vindictiveness on full display when he retaliates against the Sussexes for daring to tell their truth.
The BM also have their own war rooms, where they will have to decide whether its financially worth it to keep lying on the Sussexes and getting sued. Bc after the docuseries airs, any obviously false commentary published as facts could be considered defamation. I’m not sure how libel laws work in the UK but US publications are very aware of how they work in the US. Saying/publishing whatever whenever will no longer work so well played Sussexes. Play stupid games…
Why would lying about the Sussexes after their doco comes out get the BM in more legal trouble than lying about them before the doco comes out?
“William is letting his work speak for itself as we saw in Boston……”
ummmmmmmmmmmm wut????
Wouldn’t it be weirder if they weren’t doing some sort of prep? Their job basically is image, so planning various contingencies (or even just getting the hotheads to agree in advance not to react) seems like … doing their job.
Off to a good start, a lovely gesture from a loving father and brother. /s
Given how severe the backlash from the Oprah interview was, they’d be stupid to not have some kind of crisis management strategy in place. They better have a War Room because I think the fallout will be so much worse than anybody expects. That’s how it usually is.
God, they’re really going to have to pull out all the stops with her Christmas do in order to take people’s attention off Netflix.
Kate – you’ve got 10 days to learn to play a concerto, blindfolded, and juggle three wiglets with your ankles. Get to it!
LOL
LOL
While I do believe Charles will allow Harry back in the family once there is a divorce from Meghan, H will never have a public role in the UK again.
LOL you’re definitely a troll and I’m not sure why I bothered replying in that other post. Don’t forget that Harry chose to leave, dear. He’s not coming back because he has his own family to take of, and you hate that fact.
He’s never divorcing Meghan.
Never