Well…as a cynic…
I think Meghan was lucky that Prince William and Kate have produced 3 children. This makes it extremely unlikely that Harry will ever become king. If Meghan had showed up 10 years ago, I think “the firm” would have been much less enthusiastic. There are rumors…I’ve no idea how accurate…that when Chelsey Davy dumped Harry he gave serious thought to resigning his position in the royal family. He felt he’d never meet someone he loved who would put up with living in a goldfish bowl.
According to the British press–or at least some parts of it–there is a lot of friction between Andrew and Charles. Allegedly, they never liked each other when they were kids. Charles LOATHES Fergie and reportedly always has.
But more recently, a lot of the friction is about how “the royal family” is defined. Princess Eugenie has a day job. She is NOT a “working royal,” i.e., she isn’t paid a salary to do royal things. Thus, a lot of Brits think it’s completely unfair that the taxpayers paid for her wedding, which included 800+ guests. In part this is because Eugenie doesn’t “do” all the royal hosting stuff–Princess Anne actually does more than anyone else, BTW. It’s also because her wedding wasn’t expected to bring in all the “cash” that Kate and William’s and Meghan and Harry’s did.
Andrew reportedly feels very strongly that his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice should be treated as royalty and given all the prerogatives of being royal–including royal weddings paid for by the British taxpayers. Charles supposedly wants to trim the royal budget by cutting off everyone outside his immediate family, i.e., Camilla, William & Kate and children, Meghan & Harry and any future children.
This time around…so the press says…it was the Queen who stepped in. Allegedly, Eugenie is one of her favorite grandchildren, if not her very favorite grandchild. I suspect–may be wrong–that part of this is precisely because Eugenie had divorced parents; Fergie’s antics were the sort of thing that would really humiliate her young daughters. Eugenie struggled with surgeries. She isn’t all that pretty. She apparently genuinely loves her grandma and is much closer to her than William and Harry are.
Charles prefers his brother Edward, in large part because Edward IS a working royal–he does a lot–AND acquiesced in being shunted aside. Thus, he had a much smaller wedding–considerably smaller than Eugenie’s. Upon his marriage, he became an earl, NOT a duke. His children are styled “Lady” and “viscount,” unlike Andrew’s. So allegedly while Edward and his wife Sophie are working royals,their children won’t be. Rumors say though that if Prince Philip dies before the Queen, she’ll give Edward HIS title…which allegedly Charles is adamantly opposed to.
As an American of mostly Irish-Catholic descent, I think it’s unreal that the British taxpayers had to pay for this. Hey, I enjoyed the pics and wish Eugenie and Jack all the best–and I mean that sincerely. They seem like a very nice young couple. I think a lot of the celebrities who were invited were invited to help Jack in his day job as an ambassador for a brand of liquor.
Rumor has it that while Jack has NOT been given a royal title, Eugenie is going to insist she still be called Princess.
Again, I wish Eugenie and Jack all the best. I mean that.
