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

 

[Yeeted Teet]

If the Crohn's rumour is true and she had a bowel resection, that can have a very rough recovery. The disease causes malnourishment, which means a person can have a much more difficult time healing from surgery. Slower wound healing and higher risk of infection are known complications that can cause extended hospital stays or the need for readmission, the complications don't kill as many people as they used to but it still happens.

 

[CoolFool]

I always assume in these scenarios that people had face work done and it ended badly. If Kate was just tired and recovering from another major surgery, her PR team could at least have her makeup done, have her propped up and sitting somewhere long enough for a photoshoot that looks candid. It would be proof that she's alive and "fine". The fact that they can't do that makes me think her face is swollen or even botched from surgery.

If she did indeed have a medical emergency unrelated to plastic surgery, then it has to be something incredibly serious that they can't have her sitting and looking healthy for even a few minutes. I'm very curious about this story and I normally don't give two shits about the royal family.

 

[The Judean People's Front]

I have no skin in the game: I'm American and uninterested in the Royals. But like I said, I wandered over here and IMMEDIATELY saw that ileostomy outline - I follow a few munchies on IG who have Ileostomy bags and I've seen so many "hidden" under clothes that I actually searched to see if it was a known fact - it's so clearly outlined. Even in the other photos.

My baseless speculation is that she's got something deeply unsexy like Crohn's disease. And like others noted, can't talk about poop bags in England.

ETA: for those wondering why they didn't "hide" it better - ileostomy bags are. . . Loud? If you don't plan exactly right, and sometimes even if you DO they still stink and fart. Yup. You fart out the stoma. So she couldn't hide it if she wanted, and not just the bag. In fact, seeing the bag can be kinda helpful so folks know you're not just stinky and constantly ripping farts. I'm gonna guess among the upper class folks who know Kate it's an open "secret" that's not mentioned out of propriety.

She's probably not doing any public appearances until she can have surgery to reconnect her GI tract so as to not fart out her stoma while talking about Israel/Palestine or something.

I had a relative experience a sudden, idiopathic bowel perforation. They had surgery to resect the bowel, install a stoma, and then another surgery a while later to reconnect everything. In between they had a colostomy bag, and it was loud, stinky and un-hideable.

 

[AssignedEva]

Couldn't it simply be that she experienced an emergency of some sort that day, was rushed to the hospital where the emergency was stabilized, and then they scheduled ("planned") a necessary surgery subsequent to that? I feel like William of Ockham screaming into the increasingly-complex void over here.

As I said, I think that's the most likely closest to reality - a medical emergency, followed by intensive treatment that has resulted in either significant weight loss or puffy face issues or whatever, and Kate doesn't want to show her face until she's recovered back to her usual glam self. But the PR has been handled atrociously on this and that's why there's all this buzz about "where is Kate" and such scrutiny about Kensington Palace publishing a bodged photoshop job, because there's so many glaring errors and missteps (and it all still doesn't dovetail with the "official" story).

And one possible for that is the King is taking a serious turn for the worst, so they're all busy worrying about what happens next that they haven't bothered with any PR around the Princess having some surgery (but then this is why you have PR teams in the first place, and Kensington Palace's PR team seemingly isn't communicating with Buckingham Palace's PR team).

 

[Otterly]

Don't care what anyone says, I like her, William, and their family, and hate to see anyone put through all the BS they're going through.

Second that. She is of the stiff upper lip put up and shut up school of things and I like that. It’s obvious she learned a lot from Liz and she hasn’t put a foot wrong as far as I can see. I think they are a positive thing for England and I will be sad if she’s seriously sick. Imagine having an ostomy bag and having to be in public in insanely expensive clothing and heels. Stoic

But the PR has been handled atrociously on this

Yeah that is true. Slimmed down monarchy apparently and I bet Charles has slimmed it down too much. It does need some PR, handlers and all that.

 

[Dog-O-Tron 5000v5.0]

“Royal ai image generator why did you create a picture where the future young prince has a mangled hand.”

“Its not muh fault muh bing account ran outta credits. Simple as.”

Hey, do you know how hard it is for them to get it to generate  any AI images of British Royalty that aren't Nubian Kangs, Pajeets in Burger King crowns, or Meghan Markle?

 

[Sinner's Sandwich]

possibly appears drunk at the investiture ceremony, swaying and blinking weirdly and dropping a medal.

Have you never seen how a tired person looks like? Dude looks like he hasn't slept for days.

 

[babadook]

I have no skin in the game: I'm American and uninterested in the Royals. But like I said, I wandered over here and IMMEDIATELY saw that ileostomy outline - I follow a few munchies on IG who have Ileostomy bags and I've seen so many "hidden" under clothes that I actually searched to see if it was a known fact - it's so clearly outlined. Even in the other photos.

My baseless speculation is that she's got something deeply unsexy like Crohn's disease. And like others noted, can't talk about poop bags in England.

ETA: for those wondering why they didn't "hide" it better - ileostomy bags are. . . Loud? If you don't plan exactly right, and sometimes even if you DO they still stink and fart. Yup. You fart out the stoma. So she couldn't hide it if she wanted, and not just the bag. In fact, seeing the bag can be kinda helpful so folks know you're not just stinky and constantly ripping farts. I'm gonna guess among the upper class folks who know Kate it's an open "secret" that's not mentioned out of propriety.

She's probably not doing any public appearances until she can have surgery to reconnect her GI tract so as to not fart out her stoma while talking about Israel/Palestine or something.

I had a relative experience a sudden, idiopathic bowel perforation. They had surgery to resect the bowel, install a stoma, and then another surgery a while later to reconnect everything. In between they had a colostomy bag, and it was loud, stinky and un-hideable.

Please God let her rip a massive one the day she makes her first public appearance after surgery. I'm talking one so loud that the PR team cannot mask in video recordings

 

[The Judean People's Front]

Please God let her rip a massive one the day she makes her first public appearance after surgery. I'm talking one so loud that the PR team cannot mask in video recordings

See, I think that's exactly why no one is seeing her. You can't control stoma farts in any way - it's a hole, not a sphincter, so if gas occurs it just rumbles down the tract until it hits the open stoma. No politely excusing yourself. Fucking humiliating for the most non-royal out there, but imagine this if you were in the constant spotlight like she is.

That said, my timelines a bit wonky bc I think she had the bag back in December when she was pictured. So maybe she tried going out with it only to realize that no matter what she did, unexpected gas was erupting out of her at inappropriate times. Thus a "step back" from public life for a good 90 days? Yeah that sounds about right for reconnecting everything so the future Queen can poop properly again.

And that reconnection surgery isn't a guarantee. It's been about 10 years since I saw my family member go through all this and I'm sure things have improved/Kate gets the best care, but there's always a risk that the reconnect goes awry and scar tissue or whatever ends up causing a blockage or stricture and that person's stuck with a stoma forever.

 

[Zaryiu2]

Bur why lie about that? There's literally no reason to lie about being in the hospital and needing a recovery. You don't need to tell everyone what happened or what the procedure is, but lying about being in the hospital is excessive and when that lie falls apart then people are going to be skeptical.

Because they are either stupid or out of touch with reality

 

[soulless guarantee]

but there's always a risk that the reconnect goes awry and scar tissue or whatever ends up causing a blockage or stricture and that person's stuck with a stoma forever.

Going from the future Queen of Hearts to the future Queen of Farts. Anti-royalists would have a field day with newspaper headlines and tweets.

 

[Prokhor Zakharov]

View attachment 5813962

I'm kinda surprised they'd put out a picture of him looking this poorly. Notice the palor of the skin (paleness), as well as scleral (white of the eye) congestion, redness, and slight icterus (yellowing). Note the chapping around the lips, very common with cancer treatments. Also note the edema of his fingers (swelling), as well as the clubbing of the fingertips.

Going by this alone I'd say he is a man who is quite ill, almost on the border of severely ill. If I saw a patient like this step into my office my first thought would be "This is a man who is going to die sooner than later"

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

with newspaper headlines

hasn't part of this been the UK papers revealing that they're actually totally controlled and any thing they cover is only what's allowed?

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

I posted it earlier in the thread but I think this article is the best, clearest current summation of events, and its timeline (at the bottom) is updated whenever new information comes to light.

Looks like Kensington Palace is doubling down on the line that the photo was entirely Kate's doing.

 

[AnOminous]

Even a common medical condition is a danger to expose them as "better": their care is better, so they're surviving better. Their clothes are tailored, so they can hide appliances better.

So why not wear some kind of billowing gown?

 

[soulless guarantee]

hasn't part of this been the UK papers revealing that they're actually totally controlled and any thing they cover is only what's allowed?

Yeah good point. I imagine they would censor it from article comments too - but every xeet that goes out about her would get it in the replies.

I hope she's alright. Medically it's potentially bad enough, but then the public circus (and the Family sticking with firm PR lines and silence) must be horrendous.

 

[Otterly]

So why not wear some kind of billowing gown?

Honest answer? It would be unusual for her and her wardrobe is made to measure with a long lead time.
She has a style and that style emphasises that she’s tall and slim. She’s got the kind of figure that women would kill for and she doesn’t normally wear billowy stuff. The closest she gets is the jenny packham dresses. I would imagine that her wardrobe is quite closely managed and ordered in advance, made for her and that getting things made and tailored quickly may be not possible. That said , she was pictured in a red ensemble recently that was less structured. Still, most of her stuff is VERY structured and tailored to her. It’s been noticeable for a while that her clothes looked loose on her and maybe that was thinness but maybe it was to accommodate a bag more discretely.
I do t envy anyone having to go through that in the public eye. (The sequin number above seems very pale and tight for such a thing but remember this is a woman who stood in a pale yellow frock a couple of hours after giving birth. If you’ve ever been in the immediate aftermath of a birth you’ll know that light frocks are not what you want, you bleed heavily for days afterwards. ) she may have thought she could style and tough it out and just been overwhelmed by the reality. I have sympathy for that too - if you’re the sort of person who just gets in with stuff and you get hit by a serious illness, you often find people try to carry on as normal then have a collapse at the point they realise they can’t.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Honest answer? It would be unusual for her and her wardrobe is made to measure with a long lead time.

ah.
ego.

you don't have to go out in an Upholstered Iron Lung like the monstrosities Hillary rocks just because you're not Top Model anymore
there is room for compromise

 

[Otterly]

ah.
ego.

you don't have to go out in an Upholstered Iron Lung like the monstrosities Hillary rocks just because you're not Top Model anymore
there is room for compromise

There is and she will have to. Remember that there are rules and conventions about what she wears as well. She can’t just nip to Coast and grab a nice cheap frock - it has to be a set length, cover various bits, be British, and be not the same colour Camilla is wearing and all that. She’s scrutinised closely.
But if you’re the kind of woman who doesn’t want a fuss, you think it’ll be ok, you get a couple of thicker fabric pieces let out, and then after a month of trying you realise you’re too sick and it doesn’t work. I do t blame her for that.

 

[Click reply to view]

They're using her as a giant womb to help the rest of the reptilians maintain their structural integrity within the third dimensional vibrational range. They talk all about it in the Bible, if you can read the words they didn't write.