Never complain. Never explain.
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What he seemed to be doing recently - having his staff coordinate with the King’s to minimize conflicts, being focused on charity causes close to heart, having one-on-one meetings with family without stories appearing in People Magazine five minutes after they are over.
But then he can’t help himself giving another interview like this where he re-litigates everything just days after his sit down with the King.
My perspective - Meghan isn’t going to be the next Martha Stewart. They’ve got extremely high overhead with few earning opportunities. That can lead to really poor choices in business as Prince Andrew has shown over the years.
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I didn’t find anything in the interview or article that should upset the royals—unless what bothers them is his good works, his independence, or his popularity.
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IMO, if Harry continues with this, it’s over and above. The Palace should have no expectation that Harry coordinates schedules; he’s not a working royal — as has been made clear. If Harry can’t have it both ways (which he shouldn’t), neither should The Firm
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I’m aware of this expression. It’s pithy and in many circumstances I think it’s a wise course of action…(or is it inaction?)
However, I also believe there are situations when a response is absolutely necessary. Why? Because silence when it comes to lies…especially hurtful lies about people you love…can be taken as an admission that there is truth in the aspersions.
From the article:
“I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative. The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.””
By referring to “corrections” I take it that he felt he had to claim his agency and put things on the record.
Imo if someone is being mercilessly abused and vilified, that person has the right to go on the record. It takes strength to stand up to one’s bullies.
In short I believed him when he said: “They were happy to lie to protect my brother, but they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us".
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Re-litigates is an interesting word choice. It implies that there’s been a final verdict as in a court case. Public perception is fickle. Time will tell. Harry and Meghan seem happy in their current pursuits. Success is in the eye of the beholder.
I don’t understand. If Harry wants to see the king, he has to coordinate his schedule to the kings. I’m sure William and Kate do this too if they want to see the King or if the King asks to see them (not withstanding a standing appointment).
If Harry just wants to go on with his charities and schedule, sure, he shouldn’t have to ask the King for permission to run his own businesses or social life but if he doesn’t coordinate, he’s not going to be having tea with the King (or just his father either). Somebody has to coordinate lunches, even for people who aren’t Kings. Maybe the Trump kids can just call up and ask to come to lunch, but even then Trump has to tell his schedulers that he wants to have an hour out of the day for a lunch with his non-government employed child. That’s Charles and Harry. It’s not that Harry has to have his schedule approved by anyone, but someone has to coordinate even if all they want is a simple lunch.
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I wasn’t referring to that. I was talking about Harry being asked to coordinate his activities so as not to overshadow the Royal Family, e.g. Harry’s Angola visit upstaging Camilla’s birthday.
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Harry can’t have it both ways. He can’t do interviews with his wife implying that they had to make a mad escape for their lives from royal life and then double down by writing a book further besmirching the RF but then expect to be happily accepted back in the fold. I admire him for attempting some kind of reconciliation with his father but I still think they will keep him at arm’s length because they can’t trust him - and they will never accept Meghan. She was a hard no for them from day one.
She has very few original ideas and comes across as very inauthentic. Viewers aren’t going to warm up to her if she can’t even trust them with her actual home & kitchen or with seeing her children’s faces. The Martha Stewart brand space is SO over saturated - if that’s the space she wanted to enter, she really needed to bring something different, not another copy of what’s already been done.
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I agree on the lifestyle influencing (or whatever the kids call it these days).
Someone really has to put in the time - Martha, Ina, Giada, Rachel Ray and the like all did their time working on not only their brand but their actual recipes. I haven’t seen anything from Meghan that screams originality (and that’s fine if others are entertained by her and gain a tip or two, but she is not in the league of the women I mentioned).
In terms of Harry … I really want to like him. But at the end of the day, we are talking family issues. Not uppercase Royal Family, but family. And if I were his family, I would not trust him. I think a lot of trust was lost when he wrote the book and gave the interviews. Even now, he can’t stop talking about what seem like private things, like meeting with his dad. Not the king, his dad. If he were to listen to me, I’d counsel working in the background on re-establishing trust, and part of that is not talking about private things in public. Every family deserves some privacy while they work things out (or not).
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Agree. Other than Julia Child, who focused on French cooking and not a lifestyle brand, Martha Stewart was the pioneer of this space. I’m not sure if she was formally trained as a chef but she developed recipes that were original to her and because she was the first lifestyle brand, she could do whatever she wanted, and it was all original to her. Ina, Giada and RR were chefs first, so they knew their way around a kitchen, had their own recipes, published cookbooks, etc.
Meghan is hard to warm up to. She doesn’t really let us into her life other than perfectly curated and choreographed moments that are again, inauthentic.
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All of these people worked for years in their fields before going public. Meghan just seems to announce “I’m an influencer in XXX” Rachel and Giada grew up with their mothers and grandmothers teaching them cooking. Ina owned a store and catering company. They developed their styles and started small.
Meghan wants millions of followers from day one. She has nothing to offer that all the other influencers offer. You have to go find her on the web but the others were part of developed networks (Food Channel, Today show, publishing). That’s too much work for people like me just looking for a little entertainment and not a $15 jar of jelly. Rachel Ray wouldn’t pay that!
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Agree that MM cooking shows are/going to be a complete yawn. She is somewhat known for her fashion… ditch the kitchen and focus on her core competency? A show about fashion… US and UK style.
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She has 4.1 million followers on Instagram.
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Because it doesn’t cost anything but a click. On her podcasts you have to invest more time and sometimes pay for access or at least pay for her products.
I watched a lot of Food network (and yes, someone was paying for cable for me to do that) and I still use a few tips I got from 30 Minute Meals and Ina (although most of her stuff was above my skill level), watched hours of creating halloween cakes without ever making one, but I wouldn’t spend time watching Meghan cook, or grow flowers, or what to wear to a gala that she just threw together at the last minute because I don’t think I could learn anything useful from her.
Even Oprah wasn’t Oprah overnight.
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Sadly, I suspect that many of the 4.1 million followers are doing so for gossip and to poke fun. One can also pay for followers. Many a d-list celeb and reality stars do this.
After perusing the news this morning, I am convinced more than ever that Harry and Meghan escaped an untenable situation as “working royals”…imo, a virtual viper’s nest.
They may no longer receive public funds for royal duties, but they seem happy with their relatively new-found freedom to engage in personal pursuits which are meaningful to them. That last part, “pursuits that are meaningful to them”, is a key to personal fulfillment.
Imo the Harry/Meghan detractors, who cynically say they only do charitable actions for self-promotion or personal gain, have adopted the questionable narrative being promoted by certain media outlets. Yes, their endeavors promote not only their charities, but also themselves and indirectly their pocketbook. However I believe there is a part of the story that many are willfully discounting. One cannot change the fact that both Harry and Meghan have shown a personal commitment to “showing up” (service) for others, long before their union.
We would do better to remember opinion is not fact. And opinion-based news has serious ramifications.
Lastly, the fact that Harry and Meghan continue to do their service work without taxpayer funding is certainly a dilemma for the royal family. Comparisons with Williams and Kate are inevitable.
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It’s nice to see them supporting meaningful causes.
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Showing up:
The replacement is already moving on after only 3 months: