This is one example of why I take all these articles with a grain of salt. Staying at Buckingham Palace - where Charles doesn’t live, BTW - wouldn’t have made meeting logistics any easier.
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And yet consider it from another perspective. Perhaps Harry and Meghan don’t want to be “back in the fold” if it means giving up their freedom to pursue their passions, while escaping constant criticism and nitpicking. Honestly, would you want to if you were in their place?
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That’s exactly right. I was not getting into all the details of each woman, but Sophie had a very difficult time early on and certainly made some early missteps. From what one reads now, she is much beloved in the country and is perceived as an extremely valued member of the RF.
It is also interesting for those of us who read almost everything re RF how it appeared the RF had Sophie be the “go to” person with MM at certain events.
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Part of the reason numerous articles are written about the struggles of women who have “married in” to the Royal Family is simply there are more males who have been born into the working RF who then marry women. Queen Elizabeth had 3 sons and 1 daughter. Charles had 2 sons, no daughters. Thus, using the last fifty years as examples we have five women marrying into the family and one male.
The only man who married into the working part of the RF in recent decades is Princess Anne’s husband, Timothy, who, by all accounts, puts his head down and works hard for crown and country. (Yes, I realize she also had a first husband)
And lest do not forget Prince Philip, who, although a very independent-thinking man, knew his place in the household and followed royal protocol by letting QE2 be the spotlight.
So, I don’t think it is anti-woman to discuss only the plight of the females, as in the last century, more males have been born in the RF than females.
Notwithstanding the above, many would have good reason to say women are judged harsher than men within the RF.
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Perhaps so, but there seems to be a struggle every time there is an event in the UK or another reason that Harry goes back, and comments are made that he won’t be granted any security detail, has no offers to stay anywhere or that his father can’t make time to see him, not to mention the ongoing comments about the line of succession and the titles that his children may or may not be entitled to.
I respect their decision to leave but they can’t have their crumpets and eat them too. Their Oprah interview and Harry’s book were pretty big slam on their way out of the UK and now they’ve got to live with the resulting cold shoulders from the RF.
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H&M have a pretty expensive lifestyle. My guess is that at some point in the future they will have to go back to the “tell all” well for financial reasons. By being kept at a distance by the RF since the last round, they will have very little to sell.
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Gotta sell a lot of jam to keep up with the Joneses in Montecito.
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I wish they’d just be happy with what they have. They don’t seem to throw lavish parties, travel for pleasure that often, want their kids to be Olympic athletes like H’s aunt (but they could probably afford a horse and lessons).
But they seem unhappy to me, needing to prove they were right. I hope they are happy at home with their kids.
I look at who initiates the drama surrounding Harry’s visits. The stories of dysfunctional family drama seem to be mostly generated by the UK tabloids. The criticism and the negative spin is relentless imo. The endless pursuit for control over Harry and Meghan’s narrative is quite frankly a bit disturbing…it does have Diana-type overtones. The predator/prey feel is real imo. Here’s one example:
As for:
I’ll just say I disagree with your take on things. The timeline of the events and the actual words from Harry…as opposed to those supposed royal experts, who are often affiliated with those UK tabloids…carry more weight with me.
Really!? They look relaxed and happy to me…which just goes to show how people can see the same things but read it completely differently.
And sometimes photos aren’t as telling as video:
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It’s a lot of he said/she said/they said and who is planting what stories with what media outlet. As has been mentioned several times upthread, they can at any time choose to live a quiet, private life if they want. They can serve whatever charitable organizations they are passionate about, but without the PR people, cameras and the stylists.
So you don’t believe that the Oprah interview and the book, both of which were in their own words, was damaging to the reputation of RF or salacious enough to warrant the cold-shoulder treatment from KC & William? If a family member of yours did something similar, that would be ok with you?
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If I were of African descent and there was talk about the color of my soon-to-be-born baby among my husband’s family, that would carry a lot of weight for me.
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Seriously? I think it’s presumptuous to tell them how they have to conduct their charitable endeavors. It reminds me once again how the “control aspect” (protocol) of the monarchy imo is unappealing…and in many aspects outdated.
We don’t see the monarchy doing their charitable work “without the PR people, cameras and the stylists”. Why should it apply to Harry and Meghan?
I think these are odd questions to ask, but I’ll try to answer them. The simple answers are “not my call” and then “yes, with a caveat”.
I don’t think the “cold shoulder” call is anyone’s to make, but Charles, Camilla, William and Kate, I guess. I understand why they wouldn’t want unflattering stories shared with the public.
As for the hypothetical, I honestly have trouble imagining one of my children doing something similar to the Oprah interview and Spare, because I cannot imagine always putting my needs above my children’s needs.
I certainly wouldn’t spread or sanction “lies and leaks” about my son and/or daughter-in-law. If the monarchy can prevent and control what’s going on with Kate, they could’ve done much more for Harry and Meghan. I think Harry was right when he said something along the line that they never expected him to leave with Meghan.
Now they have a “Harry shaped hole in the monarchy”.
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Why when anything supportive or positive is said about Harry and Meghan is there a need for someone here and in the British tabloids to immediately jump in with criticism of them. Why can’t they be left alone to do their good works WITH PR and stylists just like most other wealthy philanthropists do? Why does it always come back to “but they said bad things about us” and why is there no recognition of the bad things that were said about them? It’s so tiring. Call me if you have anything new to throw at them. When you dig down to most of the stuff about this latest trip, it was coming from the press not Harry. The whole “they just want so much attention stuff” may have been true when they first left England, but it rings so hollow now. They are just trying to make a life and I haven’t seen them say anything about the RF in months.
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Seriously?? They should opt to continue their charitable services without PR and stylists when the PR serves to increase awareness of the charity? Increased awareness is a BENEFIT to any charity!!
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Famous people can’t live a quiet, private life unless they stay home. As for stylists, you’ll be happy to know she didn’t use one:
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Because they no longer wished to be associated with the monarchy.
I don’t have a stake in either side, I just comment on my interpretation of what I see and read about. Clearly there are CC posters who are much more passionate about this issue than I am 
Lots of people engage in charity work without professional cameras and PR and successfully communicate awareness through various social media outlets. In H&M’s case, it seems to generate more comments and gossip (little bits I’ve seen over the past day or two: “Was the pic of Harry sitting with a sick person in the hospital faked?” “Meghan stuns in floral dress…” “DNA test proves the Meghan has Nigerian ancestry…” “Harry & Meghan’s Foundation Declared Insolvent…”) than it does to bring awareness to the nuts and bolts of their charity.
Again - I don’t have anything against them. I applaud them for their decision to leave if that’s what they wanted to do. I agree that the press is relentless, and I wish them the best of luck with their charitable work, lifestyle brand and jam endeavors.
My original point was that they can’t be surprised by the RF’s reaction to Oprah and Spare (regardless of whether or not the allegations made, are true). Leaving was one thing, airing dirty laundry took it to the next level as far as the RF is concerned.
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At least, it’s not a tabloid, right?
Legitimate curiosity question here … do charitable foundations actually send checks in the mail like that? I’d think charitable organizations like the Archewell Foundation would not just drop a check in the mail and not notice it never arrived. Various family members scarcely know how to write a check anymore as they all handle payment online.
Anyway, big oops and not a good look.
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Yeah they do. I just spent a month chasing a missing check from a foundation. They sent a paper check, in the mail (once they finally acknowledged they had never sent it months earlier and I sent an additional several follow ups).
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I think that picture is from March 2023 - but the red curls are super cute for sure.
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