This was the 2021 Xmas card. Lili was born June 2021. The kids haven’t been seen for a very long time!!
Earlier today a video was going around the internet of H&M standing while the British National Anthem was played at a Nigerian charity event they attended. A couple of comments……
- why was that Anthem played? One of the criticisms I’ve seen against H&M doing this tour is that it comes off as being a semi-state visit, when it’s clearly not.
- I saw the video and I thought it looked like H was a little teary eyed. Regardless of right or wrong, I feel sorry for the man. Estrangement is a terrible thing, and for him it’s not just losing his family but also his country.
3 Likes
Of course! I had googled and seen the 2023 date but something didn’t seem right. Thanks for doing better detective work.
2 Likes
I think you should question the news/opinions sources you’re reading/watching. Notice what media outlets are generating/profiting from those headlines.
If you do, maybe you’ll come to a different interpretation. Ask yourself ‘how you would feel’ and ‘how you would react’ if you were in Harry’s position. What would you do if the lies and leaks were threatening your safety and mental well-being?…especially when your wife and children are involved…and there’s the history/personal experience he witnessed with his own mother.
Imagine the possibility that Harry and Meghan’s Oprah and Spare revelations are true. (“regardless” is rather nonchalant if it isn’t your life under atttack) They had attempted to lay low on Vancouver Island only to have their location revealed by the UK tabloids, who promptly descend. The “airing dirty laundry” happens after stepping down as working royals in March 2020. (The Oprah interview was 1 yr after stepping down as working royals; Spare was released January 2023 , but the announcement about the memoir was made July 2021. I googled so I hope the dates are accurate.)
A different perspective from “airing dirty laundry” is “setting the record straight” and “truth over lies”. All the power seemed to be in the monarchy/UK media’s corner. I’ve viewed Harry and Meghan’s actions as imperfect, but a form of self-defense. The institution of the monarchy imo shouldn’t be able to dictate Harry’s future to the extent it seems like it has tried to do. It isn’t difficult to imagine how they would rejoice if Harry was miserable (struggling financially, being spurned by the public and on the brink of divorce…begging to be brought back ‘into the fold’). That is very sad imo and says more about Harry and Meghan’s critics than the two of them.
What the Nigerian trip has shown is that Harry and Meghan refuse to be diminished and isolated by their abusers. Whether they are successful in the longterm, we shall have to wait and see. I have no personal stake in the matter, but I am curious.
6 Likes
Or yet another perspective:
4 Likes
You bring up a good point. I think Harry and Meghan’s prosperity infuriates their critics.
3 Likes
Certainly doesn’t infuriate me. I’m more the “understand peoples’ motivations” kind of gal.
1 Like
Ironically, me too!
1 Like
The “trappings of a state visit” criticism is completely nonsensical to me. They’re not negotiating a treaty or trade policy. And the host country is fully entitled to whatever welcome and ceremonies they want to give.
If the objection is that the Nigerian defense ministry shouldn’t be meeting with private individuals, then that’s something to take up with the Nigerian defense ministry. Feel free to tell them how to conduct their affairs because you think it looks bad.
(Just to be clear, this isn’t directed at you @melvin123 , just the topic in general)
7 Likes
As the late Queen Elizabeth stated - “some recollections may vary…”
2 Likes
This is not in reference to this particular tour at all, as I don’t know enough about Nigeria or its government to make any comment.
My comment is a very generalized human nature comment, which is that I think when you are a famous person, some people will want to use you to fit their own narrative, whether you agree with that narrative or not. So if you are a famous person, you need to be very careful of who you hang out with because you don’t know how your association will be used by the other party.
Since H&M used to represent the Crown, and since they use their titles and are billed as The Duke & Dutchess, I can see the argument that their visits can be misconstrued. When I saw that video of the Anthem being played, it looked to me as if H&M were taken by surprise that it was being played. And I understand that they may have been meeting with the Nigerian Defense Ministry because Invictus is for wounded warriors. But the optics. Since I don’t know anything about the Nigerian regime, I can’t comment on whether the optics could be good or bad. But I think you can see how this could be twisted, and made to be something it’s not. I think H&M need to be very careful, and I think their team needs to have more input so they aren’t caught by surprise.
On a related note, I understand why H uses his title because that is who he was born as and that’s part of his identity. But that’s not true of M. M is not royalty. As an American, I appreciate that she is a strong, independent woman in her own right. But I don’t think M represents the Crown, or England, or really has anything to do with England.
1 Like
Only by people who don’t understand British aristocracy. Not all dukes are members of the royal family. There are currently 24 non-royal dukes compared to 6 (if you include Harry) royal dukes.
7 Likes
Thank you for the suggestion.
Again - not questioning their decision to leave - just commenting that their decision to “set the record straight” as you’ve put it, would put them in an awkward and less than favorable position with the RF (which it clearly has).
I’m not sure why you’re so upset. I never claimed to be a royal insider or expert but rather have stated multiple times to you that this is my opinion. Just like what you state is your opinion.
The very nature of this thread is pure speculation on NUMEROUS H&M news items. Read the title 
It’s not that serious.
1 Like
No worries! I’m not upset.
1 Like
Archewell Foundation no longer listed as ‘delinquent’
3 Likes
Things that make you go hmmm.
“Recently, I spoke to a former palace official who used to work for both princes before the good times stopped rolling. “There is a public misconception about William and Harry,” he told me. “It is William who was often the difficult one, and it is William who is preventing his father from having a proper reconciliation with Harry.” He continued, “This isn’t helpful at a point in time when the country would be buoyed up by seeing them together again, as would the King.””
“Yet where William is concerned, Byronic unhappiness has taken hold. I realise Harry has at times taken joy out of William’s life, and that he and Meghan can be a cause of irritation. It remains tempting to call the pair one-trick phoneys. But isn’t that what most royalling is all about? Phoney good will and faked enjoyment? Moreover, the Sussexes have youth and glamour, and the young regard them as a religion with no dilution of agnosticism.”
“I thought I’d never say this, but it may be time to bring Harry home on probation, and for William to clasp his prodigal brother to his bosom, even if he has been a bit of an asp.”
1 Like
Maybe they make you go hmmm, but I don’t feed into the media frenzy.
from the same article.
Harry and Meghan, moreover, are now reaching another tricky crossroad. Where now for two people who have absolutely no talent? The only thing they have is their titles, which is why Harry recently said he would like to “step into a royal role” while his father is recovering from cancer. He knows that there is only one job in which a moronic egomaniac will feel at home, and that is shaking hands with adoring people in the rain.
2 Likes
There’s neither enough adoring people nor enough rain in Montecito 
1 Like
That’s from the Telegraph? That rag used to be pretty royalist…they are aware that’s basically been the public function of every UK monarch for 100 years?
1 Like