The “firm” refers to the people who run Buckingham Palace. The men in grey suits who advise the Queen/King. If you watch The Crown they’re the ones who shuffle quietly and whisper things and subtly indicate what should be done and what must not be done in any situation. I guess it sort of refers to the establishment/institution as opposed to real people. Princess Diana spoke about them as the people who suppressed, silenced, and manipulated her into toeing the palace line at all times.
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All we need now is a connection to Jeffrey Epstein 
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All over southern California actually, and a good many up here in Nor Cal as well!
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Just for clarity, are we referring to the jacaranda trees or to the latest rumors that @admmda shared, or…?
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I think Prince Andrew has that covered!!!
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Also not moderating, but I think she means the trees. And since I also talked about trees, my apologies for veering off-topic
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If it’s true, like father like son, I feel that British monarchy should have ended with queen Elizabeth.
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That’s really not the definition. Not picking on her, but Meghan used the term incorrectly in the Oprah interview, and the American journalists picked up on it to extend the incorrect usage.
In British parlance, “The Firm” means the working royals, not even the British Royal Family as a whole. So Harry and Andrew are no longer members of The Firm and Beatrice and Eugenie never were.
The courtiers and support staff were referred to by Diana as “the men in grey suits.” Otherwise, the collective staff is generally included in the press as “The Palace.”
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I’ll confess. I haven’t read all of this thread. But I do have an unsubstantiated theory that fits a lot of puzzle pieces.
Kate may have Crohn’s disease or severe diverticulitis and the abdominal surgery involves a colostomy (to let the colon rest). She has probably waited until after Christmas just to get through the holidays. She’s lost a lot of weight (leading to a lot of speculation in itself).
It’s a tough road at times and then add the rabid paparazzi who relish publishing anything and everything with no respect for privacy of any kind. It does seem that the royal publicity could have done some damage control but Kate could have nixed it easily–she’d probably be hounded endlessly (it may be easier for her to leave things to others). Stress is not what she needs. And she probably looks terrible (as beautiful as she is) and simply doesn’t want any photos. Hoping she can recover and get on with her life.
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Thanks for the clarification. 
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Good post. Someone else mentioned this possibility upthread. As far as health-related explanations go, it’s the one I see as most plausible. Having had a family member go through a colon resection and temporary colostomy, that would be completely understandable wanting to stay out of the public eye.
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There was a similar theory above involving an ostomy bag, and I agreed with that at the time. I still think it’s likely though I do think the affair story and Kate not playing along with whatever is happening is also plausible.
I don’t care much about the Royal Family, but I have been intrigued at the blunders they make – the way they treated Diana and how they could’ve used Meghan as a plus rather than a minus. I find those kinds of things fascinating.
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Interesting distinction! I didn’t realize that “the firm” refers to the actual working royals, I thought it actually meant the men in gray suits!
The ostomy or hysterectomy theories seem to have the most traction as far as plausible medical explanations. But what strikes me as strange is that if one of those was indeed the reason, it would present an opportunity for Kate to do exactly what Charles did, which is to share a diagnosis in the hopes of destigmatizing a medical issue, which is something that Kate and Wills had also been doing when talking about mental health. So the obfuscation of her condition just doesn’t track with the transparent modern monarchy they’re trying to portray. People applauded Charles for sharing his prostate diagnosis, surely they would rally behind kate for whatever her condition is. Of course this might have been the plan all along - to disclose and talk openly about it once she was fully recovered - but the number of public fumbles really seems to indicate something has gone seriously awry.
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And yet Charles is keeping his cancer diagnosis private. Which to me is very odd given he’s willing to talk about his prostate! But perhaps a colon/rectal cancer would be more embarrassing to go public with? If that’s what he has and she has Crohn’s they could do so much good in the world by just talking about their intestines! We all have them! But of course, it could be something else totally different.
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But Charles doesn’t look “worse for the wear” for having prostate cancer. He’s not exactly been on anyone’s list of “good looking royals” (except Camilla of course). He’s out and about.
She OTOH is dealing with abdominal surgery with lifestyle changes, kids, feels like hell and looks like hell. And the press wants a picture of her. Forget it.
I’m sure the public would rally around her but I’m not sure they trust the press to give any privacy whatsoever.
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That’s what I’m saying. Instead of seeing everything as a threat this COULD be seen as an opportunity, but the palace just doesn’t get it. Think of the sympathy for Kate it could engender. But no. Must project … whatever.
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I didn’t realize Charles was keeping his diagnosis secret, I guess I confused the cancer announcement with the prostrate procedure? Maybe I am so confused by this all because that’s what “the firm” wants 
Incidentally another utterly lowbrow Instagram account claims that Charles is forgoing traditional cancer treatment in favor of herbs and woo woo Eastern medicine.
The palace has specifically said he doesn’t have prostate cancer. They haven’t divulged what type of cancer he has.
Unless the rumors are true about a divorce.
It may come later. Hate to tell the public about your surgery and then die from it. Plenty of complications can occur.
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