UK United Kingdom Royal Family / Royal Families Drama General Thread - formerly "Prince Harry and Meghan to step back as senior royals"

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they will step back as "senior" royals and work to become financially independent.

In a statement, Prince Harry and Meghan also said they plan to split their time between the UK and North America.

The BBC understands no other royal - including the Queen or Prince William - was consulted before the statement and Buckingham Palace is "disappointed".

Senior royals are understood to be "hurt" by the announcement.

In their unexpected statement on Wednesday, also posted on their Instagram page, the couple said they made the decision "after many months of reflection and internal discussions".

"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."

They said they plan to balance their time between the UK and North America while "continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages".

"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity."

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said discussions with the duke and duchess on their decision to step back were "at an early stage", adding: "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."

The couple's announcement on Wednesday comes two months after the Duke of York withdrew from public life after a BBC interview about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in August.

Harry and Meghan to step back as senior royals

No other royals were consulted before the couple's announcement, the BBC understands.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[CAPTAIN HAPPY]

Finally. A story about him that isn't about her.

'Is this a joke?' Outrage as Prince Harry is to be named a 'Legend of Aviation' alongside moon heroes Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at glitzy Beverly Hills ceremony... after flying a helicopter in Afghanistan​

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12949471/prince-harry-legends-aviation-beverly-hills-ceremony.html

Travolta is star struck?

Harry took such a nuclear shit on his life that he flew right up into the sky.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Harry took such a nuclear shit on his life that he flew right up into the sky.

My sides should be recognised before he is. Thanks to Harry and MeAgain's antics, they've been orbital for years at this point.

 

[Faceless Whore]

Seems something good might've come from Harry's aviation "honor": (S | A)

Harry, Meghan and the absurdity of the awards industry | The Spectator​

Spoiler: Article Text

Is the prince really a ‘legend’ of aviation?
Ross Clark
12 January 2024, 5:01am

Can I have a Legend of Aviation award please? I deserve it for the time I flew Aeroflot and lived to tell the tale. Then there was the time I flew from Denmark to Amsterdam, taking off from a snowbound runway in a twin-propped plane which looked like something out of Biggles; that was pretty hairy, too. But alas, I guess there wasn’t enough room on the list of this year’s honours, to be presented in a Beverley Hills ceremony compered by John Travolta. Prince Harry made the cut, along with Buzz Aldrin, but it seems I’ll have to wait until next year.

Harry and Meghan have achieved something useful: they have exposed once and for all the sheer vacuity of the awards industry

Yes, Prince Harry really is on the list – much to my puzzlement. I am sure that his two helicopter tours of Afghanistan were noble, but does he really deserve to be honoured along with the man who was second to walk out of the small capsule onto the surface of the moon?

Harry and Meghan have become like Idi Amin with his chestful of spurious medals – they are weighed down with meaningless gongs that have been bestowed upon them by friendly organisations. To list a few of the honours they have received in the last couple of years: there was Meghan’s Women of Vision award last year from the Ms. Foundation for her ‘lifelong advocacy of women and girls’. (I guess a talent for self-promotion counts when you are a woman and a girl yourself). There was the 2021 award from Population Matters for announcing that they were going to do their bit for the environment by limiting their family to two children. (I’ve got two children, so can I have an award too? Or what about all those couples who have one child, or even none – shouldn’t they have pipped Harry and Meghan to the stage?)

Most notoriously was the Ripple of Hope awarded to them in December 2022 by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Organisation, given, apparently, for promoting ‘racial justice and mental health’. That was given, it was suggested, for making a ‘brave’ stance against racism in the royal family. They join a pantheon which includes those other fellow battlers for racial justice, Kamala Harris and Taylor Swift. Then there was Harry’s nomination for the Hollywood Critics Association TV Award for the ‘best streaming non-fiction series’.

People may mock, but in truth, Harry and Meghan have achieved something useful: they have exposed once and for all the sheer vacuity of the awards industry. It is not too difficult to imagine why they have really been given these honours: because it gained the promoters publicity that they would not have received had they rewarded, say, genuine aviators or human rights campaigners. Awards ceremonies have become a multi-million dollar business which require celebrities, not ordinary mortals, on the stage – with maybe just one or two genuinely deserving recipients to make it look reasonable.

But by promoting Harry and Meghan as, apparently, history’s highest-ever achievers, the industry finally has ridiculed itself. So thank you, Harry and Meghan, for that. Maybe you should even have an award for it.

I hope the bullshit awards industry gets more attention. Ever since Meghan won a trophy for whining to Oprah about made up shit I've been waiting to hear people question it.

And I don't see why Harry gets this award but William doesn't.
(I know I know, it's because Harry paid for it.)

 

[WonderWino]

Travolta is star struck?

Watch travolta get told to recruit harry and hoodrat into scientology because of that. The royal family would just love that one. Imagine the shit they'd get on them during the auditing process

 

[Dog-O-Tron 5000v5.0]

Finally. A story about him that isn't about her.

'Is this a joke?' Outrage as Prince Harry is to be named a 'Legend of Aviation' alongside moon heroes Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at glitzy Beverly Hills ceremony... after flying a helicopter in Afghanistan​

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12949471/prince-harry-legends-aviation-beverly-hills-ceremony.html

Travolta is star struck?

John Travolta is more of a legend of aviation than Harry. He has exponentially more flight hours that's for sure.

 

[Tasty Tatty]

Travolta owns a lot of planes himself and he's really passionate about them and flying in general. Jokes about his beliefs aside, he really enjoys flying and being a pilot. IICR, he took donations (food and medicines) to Haiti after the big 2010 earthquake. That's more than what Harry ever did indeed.

 

[Faceless Whore]

William's air service consisted of 156 missions: (S | A)

In 2009, the prince joined the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, pursuing a career in flying, for which he trained to be a search-and-rescue pilot and later became Flight Lieutenant Wales.

In 2010, he joined C Flight, 22 Squadron at RAF Valley in Anglesey as a search-and-rescue pilot and spent three years in the role, taking part in 156 search-and-rescue operations and undertaking a routine operational deployment to the Falkland Islands. He also became an operational captain.

Following his operational duties with the armed forces, Prince William later retrained to be an air ambulance pilot and worked for the East Anglian Air Ambulance from March 2015 until July 2017.

I haven't even heard what Harry did, but you're not going to convince me it was more than that.

Apparently some NDAs are expiring and people are spilling tea on Harry's service:



Also a recently published book about Sandhurst's "top 200 people" doesn't include Harry: (S | A)

Harry's Sandhurst humiliation: Duke of Sussex is left out of prestigious Army book celebrating military college's top alumni (but his brother Prince William makes the cut - and pens its foreword)​

Spoiler: Article Text

By Eirian Jane Prosser
Published: 17:28 EST, 7 January 2024 | Updated: 18:07 EST, 7 January 2024

Prince Harry has been left humiliated after being excluded from a prestigious book celebrating the Sandhurst's top alumni in what has been branded a snub by a top army commander.

The Duke of Sussex failed to make the military academy's top 200 people to train at the armed forces military college, despite his brother Prince William making the cut and even penning the foreword to the exclusive guide.

Even James Blunt made the pages of They Also Served for his stint serving for the military in Kosovo before becoming a multi-million-pound singer.

Instead the California-based royal joins other military outcasts, such as fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Benson Freeman who joined the Nazi party to become a Waffen-SS officer.

The humiliating blow comes almost a year to the day after the Duke's explosive memoir Spare was released, where he boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters, explaining he saw those he killed as 'chess pieces' rather than people.

It prompted fury from those within the military ranks, with former British Army colonel Richard Kemp calling the details split in his autobiography a 'betrayal of the people he fought alongside'.

Reacting to the decision to remove the Prince from the book, Mr Kemp told The Sun: 'I completely understand why he has not been included. I probably would have included him on balance, but it is not a disappointment to not see him in there.

'I don't think he did anything particularly notable in his service but he was certainly a significant person to go to Sandhurst. I suspect the recent disharmony between him and the Royal Family has led them to decide against having him in.

'One thing he said in his book was the Army taught him to see the enemy as less than human — which is not what we were taught. That has overshadowed a lot of the great things that he has done.'

The author of the book Vaughan Kent-Payne reportedly notes in the book that 'not everybody who trained [there] was a good egg', adding that there 'is a smattering of traitors and cads' who trained at the prestigious base.

Prince Harry endured the 44-week training course at Sandhurst in Berkshire in 2005 before becoming an Officer in the Household Cavalry Blues and Royals in April 2006.

Throughout his decade-long career in the army, he served two tours in Afghanistan where he acted as a Forward Air Controller from 2007 to 2008 and an Apache Pilot from 2012 to 2013.

Prince William entered Sandhurst in 2006 before serving as attachments with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. He served in 150 operations before retiring in 2013.

Sandhurst have chosen 200 'exceptional individuals' to feature in their book, including wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Nigerian president Murtala Mohammed and Oscar winning actor David Niven.

More recent alumni include astronaut Tim Peake and polar explorer Preet Chandi.

Under Prince William's page, the book reportedly explains that because of the heir's future duty as king, it meant he 'could not be deployed on military duty like his younger brother, Harry'.

In his bombshell memoir Prince Harry - who was known as Captain Wales in the military - wrote that he did not think of those killed as people but instead 'chess pieces' he had taken off the board.

The Duke, speaking for the first time about the number of insurgents he personally killed during his time in the army, said it was 'not a fact that filled me with satisfaction but I was not ashamed either'.

It led to a backlash from the military community. Former Royal Marine Ben McBean, who Prince Harry previously hailed as a 'hero' after he lost an arm and a leg in a bomb blast during the war, urged the duke to 'shut up'.

He tweeted after the memoir was published: 'Love you #PrinceHarry but you need to shut up! Makes you wonder the people he's hanging around with. If it was good people somebody by now would have told him to stop.'

Meanwhile Bob Stewart – a serving Independent MP who used to be a member of the Conservative Party – slammed the comments as 'distasteful'.

He said at the time: 'I wonder why he is doing such things. Real soldiers tend to shy away... People I know don't boast about such things. They rather regret that they have had to do it.'

Following the public outcry the Duke insisted he had not been boasting about the killings, telling American chat show host Stephen Colbert that his critics were 'spinning' his words.

'I think one of... the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan,' he told Colbert.

'I would say that if I heard anybody else, anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie.

He added: 'My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.'

A former British colonel also dissed Harry regarding the book: (S | A)

UK Army veteran breaks silence on latest snub to Prince Harry​

Spoiler: Article Text

Vaughan Kent-Payne, author of military guide, takes a thinly-veiled-dig at Prince Harry
January 09, 2024

Former British Army colonel Richard Kemp opened up on latest snub to Prince Harry, who has been left out of a new book celebrating Sandhurst's top officers.

The Duke of Sussex, who served in the Army for 10 years and claimed to kill 25 people an Apache helicopter pilot while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, was not named in military academy Sandhurst's guide to its 200 most notable officers.

Reacting to Harry's exclusion from the book, British Army veteran Richard Kemp said: "I probably would have included him on balance, but it is not a disappointment to not see him in there. I don't think he did anything particularly notable in his service but he was certainly a significant person to go to Sandhurst."

"I suspect the recent disharmony between him and the Royal Family has led them to decide against having him in," the former Army man told The Sun.

The Duke wasn't the only person excluded from the book. Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Waffen-SS Officer Benson Freeman were also left out of the prestigious guide.

Author Vaughan Kent-Payne said: "not everybody who trained [there] was a good egg".

He seemingly took a veiled-dig at the Duke as he added that there were "a smattering of traitors and cads."

However, Harry's elder brother Prince William was included in the book and even penned the foreword.

There's only one reference to Harry on the whole guide, in William's entry: "His status as a future king meant that he could not be deployed on operations like his younger brother, Harry."

There's only one reference to Harry on the whole guide, in William's entry: "His status as a future king meant that he could not be deployed on operations like his younger brother, Harry."

Lmao even this book is rubbing the fact that he'll never be king in Harry's face.

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

I've read that William's air service consisted of 156 missions and 149 people rescued. I haven't even heard what Harry did, but you're not going to convince me it was more than that.

Apparently some NDAs are expiring and people are spilling tea on Harry's service:

Ahahaha lol.

William did just fine flying an air ambulance.

Meanwhile Harry is getting dog piled

 

[Faceless Whore]

an air ambulance

They were search-and-rescue missions. He became an air ambulance pilot after that. I updated my post with better info.

 

[Eggplant Wizard]

I hope all royals of every nation take note: If you’re marrying someone from America, you’re marrying someone with enough fame to be brought to your attention, yet stupid enough to forfeit becoming a Senator, Representative, or any other office in the US to be with you. This should give you second thoughts. Harry, clearly, didn’t have a single thought in his head.

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

I hope all royals of every nation take note: If you’re marrying someone from America, you’re marrying someone with enough fame to be brought to your attention, yet stupid enough to forfeit becoming a Senator, Representative, or any other office in the US to be with you. This should give you second thoughts. Harry, clearly, didn’t have a single thought in his head.

Lol, Megan Markle didn't forfeit anything (political or otherwise) by marrying a Royal.

 

[WonderWino]

Lol, Megan Markle didn't forfeit anything (political or otherwise) by marrying a Royal.

Yes she did. US law is quite clear on the fact that if you accept title, which she has, you're legally prohibited from holding any public office

 

[Vesperus]

Yes she did. US law is quite clear on the fact that if you accept title, which she has, you're legally prohibited from holding any public office

Ahh, but does that still apply if they are then stripped of all titles?
May the reason for her being such an irredeemable skank is actually a 4d chess move to run for office...

 

[Feline Supremacist]

Ahh, but does that still apply if they are then stripped of all titles?
May the reason for her being such an irredeemable skank is actually a 4d chess move to run for office...

Ex-Duchess, married to Ex-Prince of England. doesn't really have the same impact on the plebes. Taylor Swift would win office far more easily than an ex-royal Markle.

Also, there's still a question if you're forever blocked from seeking office even if you renounce, and any litigation over it wouldn't be a good look for her. I am sure everyone will an ax to grind here and in the UK would have a go at her in the witness box.

Would love to see it tbh

 

[Faceless Whore]

ex-royal Markle

Given how much Meghan pushes her royal status (she demands people call her The Duchess of Sussex and even has monogrammed stationary with royal crowns on it) I imagine she'd love being called "ex-royal".

there's still a question if you're forever blocked from seeking office even if you renounce, and any litigation over it wouldn't be a good look for her.

I predict she would decide to be black again and cry racism.

 

[Myrtle the Turtle]

The Queen was upset and hurt when she found out Megan & Harry named their child "Lilibet" ( L | A )

Many of the late Queen's granddaughters and great-granddaughters have proudly been given Elizabeth as a middle name in tribute to the family's beloved matriarch.
But Harry and Meghan went a step further when they called their daughter Lilibet, the very personal term of endearment for the former monarch used only by her closest family and friends.
In fact, I understand the Queen was so upset by the Sussexes' decision that she told aides: 'I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that."

Hardman says one member of the late Queen's staff told him that she was 'as angry as I'd ever seen her' after the Duke and Duchess publicly stated they would not have used her private family nickname if she had not been 'supportive'.

So yet another lie by the Sussex expats. I found this one to be rather painful. Theres a new book thats going to be released soon, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story that should reveal a bit how he was dealing with their mess as the Queen was dying and some behind the scenes stuff.

 

[Kulee Baba]

The Queen was upset and hurt when she found out Megan & Harry named their child "Lilibet" ( L | A )


So yet another lie by the Sussex expats. I found this one to be rather painful. Theres a new book thats going to be released soon, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story that should reveal a bit how he was dealing with their mess as the Queen was dying and some behind the scenes stuff.

Honestly this made me more glad than ever that Liz finally died. What a stupid thing to say:

'I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that."

Bitch you were able to live and enjoy all that stuff from your birthright because your Uncle royally fucked up and simped for Hitler along with marrying an American divorcee just like Harry.

What does that even mean you don’t own it? Are you mad that you weren’t able to sell shit and buy new ones? Literally all your shit went straight to your son and will most likely go on to generations after until the end of humanity or the Bolshevik 2.0 arrive and pull another Romanoff bloodbath.

She should have been happy that all the prior bloodline’s genetic inbreeding didn’t leave her with the Hapsburg Jaw and she actually turned out pretty cute 70 years ago. Her cousin-husband Philip was a lucky man and the only Royal I liked for legendary banter.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

What a stupid thing to say

To be fair she very likely said no such thing. There's a UK cottage industry of writing the hagiographies of all the British royals that Buckingham Palace, while not exactly endorsing them, allow them to flourish as long as they write feel-good puff pieces for the masses, and in this case, put down Harry and Meghan at the same time.

If they're received badly they denounce them, and if they're received well they say nothing.

I predict she would decide to be black again and cry racism.

Thing is no blacks know who she is and the real (eg, not Oprah) black community hasn't been pandered to in the style they've grown accustomed to.

 

[East_Clintwood]

https://archive.is/kAVzN

Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers says.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, had sued over an article about his publicly-funded security arrangements when visiting the UK after stepping back as a senior royal.
In an article on the Daily Mail website the paper said he had "abandoned his case" hours before a court deadline.
It said the prince would be liable for the publisher's £250,000 legal costs.
The Mail on Sunday article, published in February 2022, had reported on the prince's legal challenge against the Home Office over changes to his publicly-funded security that had happened after he had stopped being a working royal and moved to the United States.

After the claim was dropped, a spokesperson for the Sussexes said the duke was instead focusing on the safety of his family and his legal case against the Home Office.

• Prince Harry to pay legal costs to Mail on Sunday
• Harry loses bid to get libel defence thrown out

In this long-running libel case against Associated Newspapers, the prince had claimed the story falsely suggested he had "lied" and "cynically" tried to manipulate public opinion.
The headline said the duke had "tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret" and his lawyers argued the article was "an attack on his honesty and integrity".
The publisher contested this claim, arguing the article expressed an "honest opinion" and did not cause "serious harm" to his reputation.

Prior to the case being dropped, a three-day trial had been scheduled to be held between 17 May and 31 July this year.
Last month, Prince Harry lost part of the legal battle after his lawyers failed to persuade a judge to throw out a strand of Associated Newspapers' defence.
Mr Justice Nicklin said the newspaper group's argument that the article was "honest opinion" had a "real prospect" of success.
The prince is still awaiting a ruling from a different judge on his claim against the Home Office that changing his level of personal protection when in the UK was "unlawful and unfair".
It is one of a number of legal battles Prince Harry has been involved in.

In November a court ruled a group of high-profile figures, including the duke, could go ahead with claims of unlawfully obtaining information against Associated Newspapers - paving the way for a trial.
The publisher faces multiple claims of "gross breaches of privacy" from Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Sir Simon Hughes and Baroness Doreen Lawrence as well as the prince.
Separately, last year Harry gave evidence from the witness box in a trial into a damages claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, over alleged phone-hacking.
A judge ruled in his favour and he was awarded £140,600 in damages in December, and a legal team for victims has since called for a criminal investigation.
The prince is also bringing claims against The Sun's publisher News Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering.

 

[Faceless Whore]

Thing is no blacks know who she is and the real (eg, not Oprah) black community hasn't been pandered to in the style they've grown accustomed to.

lol what? Black people know who she is. I made a post earlier in this thread about a black forum that discusses her:

I discovered a website called Lipstick Alley. It's a forum that seems to be predominantly for black women, and it just so happens that many (maybe most) of them don't take a liking to Meghan. So much so that last time I checked they were up to thread #8. (There was a thread #9 made but requires you to login to view.)

Just wanted to throw it out there to show that even black people know she's full of shit.

Some blacks support her but many don't.


Minor updates:
I've mentioned a user named SecondhandCoke from the r/SaintMeghanMarkle subreddit before. She often posts information about Meghan and Harry because she claims her brother is an exec in Hollywood who shares gossip with her.
She recently posted this: (S | A)

So her brother is an executive producer for Disney apparently. (That Disney elephant documentary is the only voiceover Meghan did AFAIK.) For someone who intends to remain anonymous she's retarded for powerleveling this much. She seems tech illiterate and probably doesn't realize the shit she posts on Reddit is entirely public.

I don't know how many executive producers Disney employs or if a list of them exists, but I wonder if he couldn't be narrowed down from the info she's provided about herself.


Finally: