In November 2016, the story came out that Prince Harry was dating an American actress named Meghan Markle. Within days, paparazzi camped out around her house in Toronto, people were following her everywhere she went, and the British papers were examining every photo, every rumor, every connection in Meghan’s life. Meghan flew to the UK and she and Harry hunkered down, trying to figure out what to do next. They contacted lawyers and wanted to start suing. Harry was desperate to protect Meghan. His family was desperate to stop him:
I huddled with the lawyer, trying to work out how to protect Meg from this attack and all the others…Sue them, I kept telling the lawyer, over and over. He explained over and over that suing was what the papers wanted. They were hungry for me to sue, because if I sued that would confirm the relationship, and then they could really go to town.
I felt wild with rage. And guilt. I’d infected Meg, and her mother, with my contagion, otherwise known as my life. I’d promised her that I’d keep her safe, and I’d already dropped her into the middle of this danger.
When I wasn’t with the lawyer, I was with Kensington Palace’s comms person, Jason. He was very smart, but a tad too cool about this unfolding crisis for my liking. He urged me to do nothing. You’re just going to feed the beast. Silence is the best option. But silence wasn’t an option. Of all the options, silence was the least desirable, the least defensible. We couldn’t just let the press continue to do this to Meg.
Even after I’d convinced him that we needed to do something, say something, anything, the Palace said no. Courtiers blocked us hard. Nothing can be done, they said. And therefore nothing will be done. I accepted this as final. Until I read an essay in the Huffington Post. The essayist said the mild reaction of Britons to this explosion of racism was to be expected, since they were the heirs of racist colonialists. But what was truly “unforgivable,” she added, was my silence. Mine.
[From Spare by Prince Harry]
Soon after, Harry released the statement confirming his relationship with Meghan and criticizing, in bold terms, the media’s intrusions on Meghan and the real danger they were putting her in. At the time, we were told that Harry cleared the statement with William and that William thought it was a bad idea, but he gave Harry the okay. At the time, we heard that Charles also thought it was a bad idea but he “understood.” Harry blows up that narrative in Spare:
In fact, my statement generated a whole new onslaught—from my family. Pa and Willy were furious. They gave me an earful. My statement made them look bad, they both said. Why in hell? Because they’d never put out a statement for their girlfriends or wives when they were being harassed.
[From Spare by Prince Harry]
It was in this section of the book which triggered my own fight-or-flight response, so I can only imagine what Harry and Meghan were feeling. Looking back, I am genuinely surprised that Meghan didn’t say “you know what, it’s not worth all this.” But Harry does note that Meghan wasn’t reading most of it, and he kept having to ask her about all of the stories, is this true, did you do this, what happened here? I would have been like: nope, I gotta catch a flight out of here, please release a statement saying we broke up.
As for the earliest roadblocks being set in their path by Windsors and courtiers… I know we’re supposed to feel like “yay, love won!” and it did win. But holy hell, Meghan managed to navigate all of that with no training, with everyone in the royal family actively seeking to destroy her and their relationship for years. Very few women could have or would have done that.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- 156795, Meghan Markle spectates from the stands on day ten of the US Open Tennis Championships. Queens, New York – Wednesday September 7, 2016. Photograph: © Ron Angle, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Photoshot): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE
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- 156795, Meghan Markle spectates from the stands on day ten of the US Open Tennis Championships. Queens, New York – Wednesday September 7, 2016. Photograph: © Ron Angle, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Photoshot): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE
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- 162812, Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle leaves Yoga in Toronto, Canada. Currently in a extreme weather alert for the Toronto area. Meghan was doing a Hot Yoga session that lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. Toronto, Canada – Saturday March 11, 2017. CANADA OUT Photograph: © , PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE
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- 78048, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK- Thursday May 17, 2012. Meghan Markle attends the USA Network Upfront 2012 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Photograph: © Demis Maryannakis, PacificCoastNews.com **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** LOS ANGELES OFFICE:+1 310 822 0419 LONDON OFFICE:+44 20 8090 4079,Image: 527612712, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Demis Maryannakis, PacificCoastNews.com / Avalon
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- 108416, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Monday November 11, 2013. Meghan Markle arrives for ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ premiere at Leicester Square in London. **UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG & TAIWAN OUT** Photograph: © i-Images, PacificCoastNews **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** LOS ANGELES OFFICE: +1 310 822 0419 LONDON OFFICE: +44 20 8090 4079,Image: 528868499, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 108954, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Tuesday November 19, 2013. Meghan Markle attends The Fourth Annual London Global Gift Gala at the ME Hotel in London. **UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG & TAIWAN OUT** Photograph: © i-Images, PacificCoastNews **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** LOS ANGELES OFFICE: +1 310 822 0419 LONDON OFFICE: +44 20 8090 4079,Image: 528999238, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
It still baffeles me that low life courtiers felt so comfortable treating a born royal this way. And they only seem to do it with prince Harry. Everyone else gets what they want.
Let us not forget that harry was the most valuable royal of that institution at the time next to the queen.
With all these stories about the monarchy it really sounds like the courtiers are in charge and the royal family are nothing but figureheads.
@stellahinnh: see i refuse to believe that that is the whole truth. Do i believe courtiers wield more power than they should? Absolutely. But when charles says something needs to be done it gets done. If william has a specific order or wish, it gets done.The royals definitely have power over those that work for them.
Based on Harry’s telling, the Bee, the Wasp and the Fly are the ones who run the monarch, the other royals and the monarchy. In fact, H said they considered themselves The Monarch.
So no, neither chuckDaTurd nor BullyBoyWilly get everything they want.
I agree with Chloe. The only reason the courtiers were able to bully a born-prince is because their orders to do so were coming from the top (William/Charles). Someone else pointed out here a few days ago that no way a smear campaign would have happened to Beatrice/Eugenie because their own father wouldn’t let it happen.
Shame on Charles.
I too believe the Bee and the Wasp (and others who are invisible to us) wielded their power. Case in point, Elizabeth was free to see Harry that week in January 2020, until… the Bee told her she was busy. Time and time again, when the Queen was in the insects’ presence she relied upon their word or acknowledgement. The courtiers, working together with the press, keep the royal family in check. This is why I believe Harry when he said William and Charles are trapped.
People only have power over you if you let them. The problem is the royals have let them and also the royals are generations into not having a whole lot of real education and real life experience. It’s not like they’re the Arnaults or similar. They are in many ways trapped and dependent on the courtiers and the whole firm is co-dependent with the press-and they’re most trapped because they think they are and they can’t envision another way, like Harry did. The whole family should peace out with their billions and even if they can’t work, just follow their passions and be rich private citizens. But they’d have to get competent honest people to work for them and be competent in managing them and become a true healthy family. Also, they may or may not be living beyond their means, so they need to learn how to live off their compound interest and/or generate revenue. Seems Kate and Will would be lost if they needed to earn their own way and Charles is selfish with the money. Harry was able to leave also because he’s had to get by on his own in a lot of ways and have a real job and done real service with Sentebale and iIvictus and he’s industrious, so he had a clue.
Free yourselves, Mountbatten-Windsors! Follow Harry’s lead. Do the work and live your life and you won’t regret it.
Agree. Harry was by far the most popular royal and so beloved. I always thought they had it in for him because he is SO much like Diana. They were punishing him for that.
And I know Meghan’s friends kept asking Meghan if he is worth this (and even Harry wondered as well) and it’s clear she thought he was. I know a lot of people would high tail it out if there but she loved him and wanted this to work.
The reason that he’s so much like diana certainly bothered Camilla. Which is probably why she didn’t value him much. But i think the courtiers genuinely thought of him as disposable, despite being the most popular member after the queen. I know harry is the spare but if they had treated both harry and william equally, the fab 4 could have worked.
Harry’s popularity was second only to the Queen’s.
@ Chloe, the Fab Four never would have worked. Bullyiam and KKKHate would have lost their minds over how accomplished and hard working Harry and Meghan were and are. The sole reason it worked for just the 3 of them is that they could ride on Harry’s coattails of progress and contributions, including Sentebale. They wanted his glory without any of the work. Plus Harry “entertained” KKKhate, which was a win-win for Bullyiam.
Same, especially the story about the printer. I would’ve raised hell and probably gotten physically aggressive against such gaslighting; courtiers are so dismissive and nonchalant about it all. I think reading about this made me dislike QEII a lot. The way she turns a blind eye and accepts things for how they are (what they courtiers tell her) is astounding.
I don’t think so Chloe because only Meghan and Harry are fabulous. Will and Kate prove everyday that not only are they not fab they’re not even competent and show no passion for their roles. They would have been a drag on Harry and Meghan. Group projects are the worst when all involved fail to contribute equally and much of the work falls on 1 or 2 people yet everyone gets the credit because people on the outside looking in are unaware of the internal dynamics. Harry and Meghan would always come out on the short end of that stick.
Harry was a spare. He wasn’t valuable and nobody had to listen to him. The bugs might have to actually obey the Queen and Charles and William, but nobody’s going to make them listen to Harry.
Because he was their whipping boy, Louis is next spare they’ll start abusing, they’ve already gotten started with him.
Charlotte is the spare, not Louis. Charlotte = Andrew & Harry. Louis = Edward & Anne. William will throw all of them under the bus, and he’ll encourage George to throw Charlotte under the bus. Kate will throw Charlotte under the bus because Charlotte will get more attention than Kate. Of all of them, Louis is the most protected because no one cares about him like they don’t care about Edward.
I’m afraid poor Louis is going to have it worse than Anne, because Anne got to relish in being the only girl. Every time the British media want to humanize Philip, they trot out the same photos of Philip and Anne, like he was any other “girl dad”.
I doubt it. Louis is firmly in Edward territory to me. The tabloids will delight in having a female spare in Charlotte to pit against Kate. It will help them that Kate is always willing to throw Charlotte under the bus.
But Will did make some statement in 2007 asking the press to back off of Kate and the RF legal team warned some of the media off. Another situation where Meghan was to be treated differently.
And Will sued when they took topless photos of Kate. And Charles has spent 20 years and millions of dollars trying te rehab Camila’s image.
To be fair, he also spent 100s of thousands to rehab Kate. Kate didn’t get prim, buttoned-up-frump-frocks for nothing. The boozy looks, skirts flying, baring body parts that the press kept capturing had to be erased from the public psyche. Then W worked on clipping whatever individual agency she had by not allowing her to speak for self. See engagement interview. W cuts her off. If she mumbles it’s bc she is not to show personality. Thus, the ‘English Rose’ is born. Compliment to husband, no fuss trophy wife and child bearer, a conundrum & mystery.
How quickly you forget the decade post-wedding of Kate’s flashing incidents, dozens on record including full-frontal nude to the waist. It appears the two of them enjoy her exhibitionist behavior because she’s still engaging in it. See the tacky gold dress from a recent movie premiere where she’s clearly not wearing anything underneath. And her continuing insistence on wearing flimsy skirts with no slips, so her lady parts are frequently outlined in detail when she walks. All done deliberately because she loves attention.
Kate has agency. Kate is not a victim. She’s chosen to be an awful and useless human all on her own. William didn’t make Kate the way she is, they are horrible mirror images of each other. Perfectly suited in that way. Kate isn’t mute, she isn’t cowed. She’s out there stabbing anyone in the back that she can reach. Kate and her awful family have done everything they can to be bullying, racist, and evil to Meghan, Harry, and the Sussex children. Kate does that at her own direction and for her own image – often against William and the KP team.
Notasugarhere, you summed up Wails very well. I know there are those who think that she is cowed, but I’m not one. I believe that she is exactly as you describe. That is a marriage made in hell and I can’t think about what the children are seeing. Fails and Wails undoubtedly go at it hammer and tongs and that’s what the children will base their future relationships on.
Was that the topless photos/invasion of privacy letter? Or a different one?
These men ain’t sh*t.
Hm. If Willy put out a statement for the press to back off Kate, why did Harry say his brother never put out a statement (and therefore was angry Harry got to)?
Because he was just repeating what they told him.
@sway: because william never put out an official. At least not like the one harry put out. But when they were dating, Kate did get lawyers involved multiple times. And even won a lawsuit once. She used lawyers from the same law firm that the royals use. And it was reported at the time that she had the queens full support because the queen wanted to crack down “press intrusion on members of her family”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kate-middleton-set-for-pound10000-privacy-victory-w0dl2j7x6fd?fbclid=PAAaZFvKVIZbuHdCjzd7KUlHjnJKe9xQtlhswz1VOYdgyPmOPd5BnqBNU84D8
Also, Harry said that W&C said they never put out statements for their *girlfriends*. The topless photos of Kate were after marriage (all her official event fanny photos were, too, for what it’s worth).
This why I don’t understand why H&M did not put out their own statement through her pr firm. If H did not want to go against the Queen or his father, Meghan could have issued on independently through her own very competent pr firm.
As a self-made, independent, 35 year old woman of the world, she would have understood that she’s responsible for her own life.
@ Chloe, thank you for the article. How interesting that Kate modeled for the photographer and shared a Merry Christmas then turns around and sued the photographer……
I tell you she has the eyes of an owl and can see photographers 2 miles away, she’s cunning and evil.
@Via And the Brit media that constantly goes after women would have listened to Meghan’s PR firm any more than they do to any other celebs?
@equality, this is how the (January 2007) message was handled. Still comes across as a statement. Just not on palace letterhead.
https://metro.co.uk/2007/01/09/william-please-leave-kate-alone-542849/
It’s fascinating that Murdoch’s newsgroup agreed to stop using the pap pictures. Makes me wonder if negotiations were going on behind closed doors. Like, we won’t sue over the phone hacking scandal if you agree to do this. Clive Goodman was arrested August 2006. He was then sentenced to 4 months in jail on January 26, 2007.
Harry was just repeating what Will & Charles said. Charles may not have made a statement-he certainly was involved in a decades long pr campaign to rehab Camilla’s image. eff them
There was pressure for a w and k wedding announcement then. Will felt pressured and broke up with Kate in 2007.
And Meghan staying with him after all this bullshit is why Harry will worship her until the end of time.
I wonder if Meghan’s experience as an actress helped her find ways to cope. She seemed primed not to read any of her press. She was never a tabloid target but I recall her occasionally experiencing social media backlash due to some story points happening on her show. Like when her character cheated on Mike or when her character’s black father showed up.
Why is everyone so inept? And let me tell you, they could’ve come to their woman’s defense. That they didn’t makes them cowards. They expect women to suck it up if ya wanna be wit me. Oh, hell no. Spineless, gormless worms.
I’ve been saying it and will keep saying, the British Royal Family are All moral cowards.
I have to ask , is it gold plated??😉
The fact that she stays tells me she’s probably exactly the squeaky-clean, sweet little nerd she says she is. She doesn’t have any real skeletons, or she’d have been out of there so fast.
That’s really the thing jumping out at me from Spare – how on Earth did she get through it? And though I am a fan of H, I don’t know how she convinced herself he was worth it. Very obvious why he adores her, he has gotten so much more out of the relationship than she has from where I’m sitting. You are a very lucky man H!
Especially with her friends telling her, “He’s not worth it. No one is.” Her sense of self and confidence that she was doing the right thing must have been very strong. She is a remarkable woman.
Her sense of self and confidence (which, even her loved ones have said that if she doesn’t want to hear something, she lets it be known) are probably the biggest triggers to the royals (and the courtiers). Their ENTIRE shtick is based on convincing people to believe that their magic blood makes them special and that people should pay for their lifestyles in exchange for receiving stupid ribbons with their faces on them. That grift emphatically does not work with someone like Meghan around.
This part! Love is a powerful motivator, especially if she strongly believed in her future with Harry but having read the book and having followed their story, I am amazed she stayed. The bs they put her through. I especially remember being gagged when the porn thing happened- I remember texting with a friend about it being like I can’t imagine enduring it.
Like, I am so happy they are free and she is away from the worst of all this.
Always remember John Oliver going on Stephen Colbert and saying she still has time to back out and meaning it in all seriousness. As an American that didn’t pay that much attention pre-Meghan, I couldn’t have imagined everything that was about to happen. Just happy they’re in montecito now with Archie and Lili. And Meghan is a badass.
That John Oliver interview with Colbert before the wedding was amazing. Colbert was like, “This wedding is exciting!” And Oliver was like, “Hmmmm….it’ s going to be really weird for her.” He let it be known in not-so-many-words that he has friends who have traveled in royal circles (probably aristo friends from whichever university he attended, Oxford or Cambridge), and that the royals are cold, weird, racist people. He knew Megan wasn’t going to fit in very well with that bunch, through no fault of his own. And boy howdy was he right.
I read this section a couple of nights ago. I was struck by two things. Harry was terrified for Meghan, especially when she was being pursued through the icy streets of Toronto and called him. But he was also terrified that she would “bolt”, as he put it, and he had no control over either situation. He felt helpless, and that’s when his anxiety went through the roof all his life. He felt he could deal with anything, even combat, as long as he could do something about it. And his father and brother telling him he was making them look bad by trying to protect Meghan! I don’t know how either of them made it through this period in their relationship. It was a lot.
I still remember him waiting at the alter for Meghan’s car to drive up.
He wasn’t paying attention to what Pegs was saying, he was looking at those open doors hoping she would come through them. The shaking knee while he was sitting. Not sitting still. It was all there.
You just saw it.
Yes! He was so nervous, visibly nervous. And 🥵 as he admits he does when nervous. I didn’t get it at the time, but now I do. He still thought she might back out. Of course, she would never be so rude as to leave anyone at the altar. Poor Harry. He couldn’t imagine anyone loving him enough to volunteer for the life he had.
I’ve had a hard time convincing myself that an intelligent, well educated world traveller could be that naive and , in all innocence, did not see all the red flags, but it seems that she truly underestimated the viciousness of the tabloids and the BRF. Who could possibly have known they would try to drive her to suicide.
I think it’s because she’s genuinely good so she doesn’t spend her time tracking what genuinely not good people are doing (or potentially plotting against her). She stays focused on her vision and her loved ones. Or, at least she used to.
LMAO What nonsense!
AS WE SPEAK, there are BRITISH-BORN, “intelligent, well educated, world travellers” who are just discovering the depth of depravity of their media, having recently become victims of it themselves.
Just this past week a former military instructor of H was lamenting on twitter about being not only misquoted, but having his words twisted entirely out of its intended meaning by the britshidtmedia regarding an interview he gave them in response to Spare; ditto an american academic in the field of psychotherapy who couldnt believe how the britshidtmedia, to whom he had given an interview, unaware of the depth of their depravity, had twisted his words and printed the complete opposite of what he said about something in Spare; and ditto Nelson Mandela’s grand-daughter who had to write an article in both the Independent and another paper and on twitter, blasting the britshidtmedia for publishing the complete opposite of what she said about H&M’s Netflix docu “LiveToLead.”
So if one is not and has not been paying attention to a parochial media industry in some little island still living on the fumes of its centuries-past glory, what makes you think their intelligence, education and cosmopolitan outlook would prepare them for the fact that a country that is listed among the G7, has a cesspool as their 4th estate?
Well said, Kingston. 👏
@Kingston, ALL. OF. THIS.
Preach sister!
@Kingston, insightful as always👏👏👏
Word, Kingston.
I don’t think Meg was naive, I am sure she anticipated that BM will be cruel sometimes. What she couldn’t anticipate was that the whole family will treat her like dirt behind closed doors too. She said in a documentary that she was convinced that the pomp was for the outside and inside they would be normal people in jeans. If privately she was treated in a nice and supportive way, even with “sorry this is happening to you, we love you, we are in an impossible position with the media” it would be very different. But there was viciousness waiting for her behind every corner and that would break almost everyone. I don’t know how she survived.
I was reading another book about the royals–and the author talked about how Diana and a friend were at dinner at BP and when the girls were “dismissed” they kicked off their shoes and went running down the hall.
I think this is why Harry can be so relaxed, I’m sure that’s the way Diana was.
Meghan is an inherently good person and treats people with honesty, compassion and integrity. Integrity is a word I keep coming back to in describing her personality, and the belief that the light she shines will shine back on her. Nobody expected she would be hounded to the brink of suicide. Yes the other married-in women were stalked and harassed by the tabloid bottom-feeders but the vehemently racist, violent misogynoir against her was unlike anything that came before. This was a whole new level of hatred, not just trying to dig up juicy gossip. and I’m sure she never suspected that her in-laws would actively conspire with the rota ratz to chase her out of the country.
How would she have known what they were like behind closed doors? And to a member of their own family? Tabloid culture in the US is not the same as it is in the UK (she’s also never been a fixture in them before now) and iirc she once said in an interview or something that she doesn’t read press about herself. Also, this wasn’t her first time in the UK. She’s a regular visitor for Suits promos and whatnot and the media was kind to her, she’d even gushed about how lovely everyone was and how she might be inclined to move over if it was like that all the time.
I think Meghan’s reasons for bearing as much as she did was two fold: she deply loves Harry and leaving Harry would have handed the Firm and the BM a win. Leaving Harry would have made the gold digging, social climbing Hollywood actress slag stick more than it does now. Harry feeling guilt about this is understandable ( probably should have prepped her better) but I bet this was the first time something he loved put it all on the line for him. Meghan gave up her career for him. Harry knows what he has and wasn’t willing to give that up for the institution, so he left with her. That what infuriates the Windsors and the BM the most, the Sussexes aren’t willing to tow the line like everyone else.
She loved him and is a truly good person. She saw how they treated him and once she decided to go all in with Harry, she knew if she left he’d be on that island alone.
To me, Harry showed the world the good man he truly he by leaving his family and their toxicity for Meghan. Just like they said in their documentary: she gave up her career, country, freedom for him. It’s only fair that he give up his country, his place as a senior royal, for her. It really grates at me that Harry could have dropped Meghan during the worst of the abuse. he could have turned his back on Meghan, abandoned her and their children, and he would have been praised and celebrated for it, by both the media and his family.
Think about the messaging there. It’s okay for a white man to destroy the life of a WOC just shits and giggles. He can return to the fold with no consequences, while she would be left picking up the pieces of a shattered life. This is where my hatred and disgust for the royal family comes from. The casual way they are willing to destroy someone’s life, out of pettiness and spite.
Good on Harry for being a guy who’s worthy of the sacrifices Meghan made for him. They have been great role models for marriage equity, and for partnership. I loved to see Harry walking behind Meghan during her cookbook launch, standing to the side and smiling, even stealing samosas from the table. This was the picture of a man supporting his wife, not a man who’s threatened by or jealous of his wife. When did Charles or William ever show such support of their wives? They look so small and ineffectual next to Harry. Neither of them could ever survive outside the royal bubble. Both Charles and William are the epitome of the mediocre white men who believe they deserve all the accolades that they are unable or unwilling to work for. Neither one of them has the guts to stand up for what they believe is right.
Harry makes them look weak. Or, Harry has exposed their weakness to the world. Harry’s going to be the man who’s remembered from this iteration of the royal family. I don’t think William is smart enough to realize that yet. Harry’s the stand-up guy. And Meghan is the luckiest of all the royal women because she is 1) away from that horrid institution and 2) she has the support of a man who truly loves her. The last royal man who loved his wife the way Harry loves Meghan is probably Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. He was willing to be subordinate to his wife, was faithful to her (very unusual for a royal man), and worked hard to support her. Her son Edward was a fat ho, George 5 was dull, vain, and a terrible father, and George the 6th was timid. Phillip wasn’t faithful, and definitely chafed against his lower status. Charles was a jealous, whiny weakling who couldn’t abide Diana’s popularity, and William is a jealous rage monster. Harry’s the stand up husband and father. Harry’s the man.
edit: King Edward was a gluttinous ho. I meant gluttinous when I said fat–I didn’t mean to fat shame.
🎯 All the evidence supports this perspective
@LANNE Your analysis is spot on. I wish what you’ve written was a tweet I would be re-tweeting the hell out of it. Well said.
Yes, please @LANNE.
We need that last paragraph to trend on Twitter.
@Ianne, truer words have never been spoken.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Lanne, I absolutely cosign everything you said except your praise of Albert, Victoria’s Consort. He was faithful, being very prudish and judgmental, and he publicly supported her. However, behind the scenes, he very much ruled the roost and was the boss even of his wife who mostly submitted to his authority. At times, he even usurped some of the monarch’s duties such as reading the briefing papers and meeting with the prime ministers. It’s debatable if he supported her in public out of love or necessity. Like the others, he was extremely misogynistic.
points taken. The bar is super low for royal men. Victoria was just as tyrannical, selfish, and judgemental though.
Yes, she certainly was. However, even though Albert was a minor German prince, who spoke little English, he thought he should be the monarch and often acted the part. Interestingly, the marriage was arranged by their mutual uncle, (yes, they were first cousins!) Leopold I of Belgium, the father of Leopold II who personally colonized the Congo and was responsible for the mass atrocities there in the 19th century. Although the marriage was previously idealized by historians, more recent information gleaned from journals and diaries written at the time, paints a more complex picture of the relationship. And both Victoria and Albert spoke mostly German at home.
Ianne, I could not agree with you more if I tried!
I hope the world realizes now the truth about the nasty Windsors and the whole royal family support system. They are HORRIBLE PEOPLE. The public has been brainwashed about them. They do not have class, grace or style. They DO NOT give a damn about the people. It is one big fat con. Meghan and Harry are the real thing. Not those lying losers.
I think the British press is evil. I don’t think anyone has control of them and they ruin everyone’s lives they touch. Everyone is terrified of them. The paps should be illegal. Meghan is strong, solid, good and kind, and she is no one’s fool. She saved Harry. He is very, very lucky to have found her.
Well said, ELSA. If the RF and the BM fail over time they have no one to blame but themselves. I have been a student of British history since I was a child. I am stunned by what these “Royals” have become. Someone in an earlier post praised Albert and rightfully so. He, like Harry, loved and supported his wife, was highly intelligent, a strong, dependable, honest man who in my mind was the true “sovreign” but gave the credit to Victoria. Unfortunately, the Hanoverian strain has made itself felt through time and is now very obvious in both Charles and William, which may well be the failure of the “crown.” For my money, Harry would have been the better “king.” Thankfully, he passed that by and is making a strong and loving life for Meghan and his children. And I, as an American , believe we are all better for their presence here.
Kensington Palace with William and Jason and Kate leading the charger did everything they could to get Meghan to leave Harry . I believe that Jason and William fed the British media creating a frenzy in hopes of making Harry and Meghan break up notice how one of the Royal reporters said that Meghan was just a fling nothing serious then Harry release the statement condoning the racism of Meghan .
Women, especially WOC, aren’t supposed to be confident. We’re supposed to be sniveling, quivering creatures desperate for male approval. Since that stereotype has never defined the reality of women’s lives–only the expectations of weak men with fragile masculinity–it behooves those said men to “smack down” any woman who dares to live as a confident and happy woman. How much energy has been expended by men to tear down women, denigrate and downplay their achievements, gaslight them into doubting their best ideas, and criticizing them for having voices? At heart, the British media is most upset at the fact that they weren’t able to break Meghan in the way they determined she should be broken. They will never stop trying, but the more they try, the more ridiculous they will look, and the more damage they do to both the Fourth Estate, the royal family, and even British public image. What other country’s media is hell-bent on destroying a private citizen who’s not a citizen of that country and no longer resides in that country? It’s absurd.
Come through, Ianne. Come on through.
lanne, and while the bm are doing this, H&M aren’t reading any of it and have asked their friends not to tell them. They are ignoring all of the noise. That’s got to be driving all of those smear writers crazy. I love to see that.
ITA that the damage that has been and is being done to the bm, brf and the country is very real. Why can’t they see that?
@lanne amazing post. Everything you just said!
Please forgive me if this question was answered in other posts, but if the palaces were not being helpful why didn’t they release a statement through Meghan’s pr firm or arrange for her security privately?
ultimately they did arrange for her security privately–but I imagine Meghan didn’t want to ruffle royal feathers. She still thought they were nice people who wanted Harry to be happy. She trusted them.
Meghan got private security through NBC. And as for releasing a statement through her PR firm, it would have subjected her to more abuse because it would have confirmed their relationship, and they would have spun things around to say that she was controlling Harry and using that as proof.
Since when does the BM pay attention to a celeb’s PR firm and stop abuse because they said so?
The royals — William especially — and the BM really do seem convinced that Harry is being led off the cliff by Meghan, a “witch,” as Harry writes.
They genuinely don’t understand how secure Harry is in his masculinity … the joy he clearly takes in Meghan’s intelligence, abilities and accomplishments … because none of them feels the same way about their wives — or about women in general. (And, in fact, William deliberately chose a dullard who wouldn’t outshine him.)
There two are things Meghan and Harry can be truly grateful for-the military keeping Harry alive without getting killed or sucide-the rate Harry was pushing in the military anything could have happened to him-the second thing putting their love and faith in each other to pursue their relationship, marriage, and having children-bless them for having the foresight about what is best or safest for themselves and their children-I feel they are both living and breathing with God’s help very functional adults who have been really tried and tested on this disgusting earth. they have the grace and the energy to move forward with their lives-one thing I read in Spare makes me wonder-Harry and Will were arguing in a heated fashion-Meghan saw them and started walking towards Harry and overhead Will say something awful-Harry said she held her stomach and turned around and went back to the cottage-she overheard what was said but I guess Will’s statement hurt her the most and could not stomach it. I am glad I have always been able to read between the lines and not believe everything put out by the media-Harry’s book has really opened up people’s mind about how things work and don’t work in the monarchy.